Some opposition law makers blamed the day-long mutiny on a culture of greed and egotism that they said was cultivated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Others said the rebellious players simply reflected the world around them, with authority shown no respect and national values shot to pieces.

Les Bleus' troubled World Cup campaign descended into chaos on Sunday, when the players walked out of a routine training session to protest against a decision to expel star striker Nicolas Anelka for his foul-mouthed abuse at the coach.

The French media rounded on the team, branding the players a bunch of overpaid brats who had brought shame on France. Many politicians saw something more profound in the revolt.

"As far as I am concerned, the shipwreck of the French team tells us something about the weaknesses of France, of a model of society that is based above all on money, which is adulated," centrist leader Francois Bayrou told RTL radio.

The head of the moderate CFDT union, Francois Chereque, said the players were overpaid and had lost sight of common values.

"The whole system has failed. The core problem is the problem of our society, which is based on money. We absolutely have to review this economic model," he told Europe 1 radio.

The Socialist Party's Jerome Cahuzac told Radio J that Sarkozy, dubbed by some President Bling Bling because of his penchant for snappy suits and expensive watches, was at fault.

"The atmosphere that prevails in the French team is one that Nicolas Sarkozy exults — it's all about individualism, egotism, everyone for themselves, and the only way to judge human success is the cheque you get at the end of the month," he said.

RACISM IN THE WINGS

The World Cup fiasco dominated news headlines on Monday, with the poisonous issue of race lurking close to the surface.

A majority of the 23-member squad are of African or West Indian origin, including Anelka, and the far-right National Front party has already complained that the team did not fully reflect France, where the vast majority are still white.

Right-wing philosopher Alain Finkielkraut branded the players as products of the "scum" generation, applying a term Sarkozy once controversially used to describe rioters from France's multi-ethnic, underprivileged suburbs.

"We have the terrifying proof that the French team is not a team, but a bunch of thugs who have only one code, that of the mafia," he told Europe 1 radio.

It was a far cry from 1998, when France's "black-blanc-beur" (black-white-Arab) team won the Cup and were feted as heroes.

Since then, the poor suburbs have erupted in violence and the National Front has once again risen in the polls, with Sarkozy's government trying to instil a feeling of "Frenchness" by launching a contested debate on national identity.

Bayrou warned that France must not think in terms of ethnicity, saying the worst-case scenario was one where: "we have completely failed to integrate and all that is left is clans, with the French separated according to their origins."

Immigration and National Identity Minister Eric Besson warned against seeking neat political answers, but said there was a lack of mutual respect in society.

"Where are the leaders in this team who can turn round and say 'listen guys, we are losing the plot here'?" he told France 2 television.