Zinedine Zidane MADRID — Zinedine Zidane, who has been tipped to one day manage France, will soon begin training to be a coach while he works at Real Madrid's youth academy, the Spanish club said Monday. “Zinedine Zidane will shortly begin training to be a coach whilst at the same time coaching Real Madrid's youth academy," the club said in a statement posted on its website. The 40-year-old, who played for Real between 2001 and his retirement in 2006 and who has since last year been working as the club's sporting director, will finish his team management qualification this year, the statement added. “That will allow him to formalize his knowledge and training which will enable him to fulfil an aspiration that he made public in the press conference in which he announced his retirement as a player in April 2006: to work with Real Madrid's youth academy," it said. The three-time World Player of the Year, whose 17-year-old son Enzo is a member of the Real academy, is studying a diploma in sports management in Limoges in south-western France. Zidane holds legendary status in France as a member of the national teams that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. Earlier this month the president of the French Football Federation, Noel Le Graet, said Zidane is a contender to one day manage Les Bleus. FA charges Ferdinand Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand has been charged by the Football Association in relation to comments made on Twitter in the wake of the recent John Terry racism trial. Following the trial, in which Chelsea and England defender Terry was acquitted of racially abusing Ferdinand's younger brother Anton, Rio responded to a Tweet that described Chelsea defender and defense witness Ashley Cole as a “choc-ice". The term is commonly understood to mean “black on the outside, white on the inside". It was a reference to Cole's testimony in court, in which he said he never heard Terry make a racist remark to Anton Ferdinand during the match in question, between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea, at Loftus Road last October. “The FA has today charged Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand with improper conduct in relation to comments posted on Twitter," said an FA statement. “The allegation is that the player acted in a way which was improper and/or brought the game into disrepute by making comments which included a reference to ethnic origin and/or color and/or race." Terry was found not guilty earlier this month after a five-day trial at Westminster Magistrates Court but the FA has since charged Terry in relation to the same case. — Agencies
