Willy Sagnol, the coach of Georgia’s national football team, on Tuesday rejected the fans’ outcry over alleged political motives influencing his decisions regarding player selections for Euro 2024 in Germany.

In his press comments, Sagnol dismissed the allegations as “unfounded” concerning Budu Zivzivadze, a player for Karlsruher SC, who last month criticized the Georgian Dream authorities for adopting the foreign influence transparency law. This law has been widely dismissed as a “Russian law,” which the EU and the country’s foreign allies believe could impede Georgia’s progress towards EU membership.

A number of Georgian football fans speculated about political pressure on Sagnol after Zivzivadze played only briefly in the Georgia vs. Turkey match and did not appear at all in the Georgia vs. Czech Republic match.

Sagnol addressed these concerns, stating, "It's funny that 6-7 months ago they [fans] insulted me when I was playing Budu and [Giorgi] Mikautadze was sitting on the bench. Now, some are insulting me every day for absolutely non-football reasons, and I'm not going to put up with it anymore."

He emphasized his role as a football coach, saying, "I am a football coach and nothing else. Who will play and who won't is up to me."

Regarding the forthcoming match with Portugal, Sagnol said, “nothing has been decided yet for the match against Portugal. I want to make the right decisions based on football facts only."