French players hoaxed over Chirac

French soccer players were hoaxed into putting their hands on their hearts in support of president Jacques Chirac before this week's World Cup qualifier against Ireland.

Chirac has been having treatment for a blood vessel problem affecting his vision and is due to leave hospital on Friday.

An impersonator, Gerald Dahan, pretended to be Chirac when he performed the hoax for a French radio station. He spoke to coach Raymond Domenech and captain Zinedine Zidane, asking that the team perform the gesture.

"It's a scandal. I think it's a scandal to play with somebody's health, especially when that person is a head of state," French goalkeeper Gregory Coupet told Reuters.

"In the afternoon before the match, Raymond Domenech told us the president had called him in the morning to ask us to do it.

"It had a positive aspect because it helped us concentrate on the match but I don't think it's funny to make fun of such an important person and of the national team."

France won the match 1-0 in Dublin on Wednesday, putting them in a strong position to qualify for next year's World Cup in Germany after going into a share of the lead with Switzerland in a tightly bunched Group Four.

"It moved us that the president called. For us, it was natural to make a gesture for the president. We didn't ask any questions," Coupet said.