Youri Djorkaeff, one of the few former international superstars to have endeared themselves to New York fans for his professionalism during his stint in MLS, had indeed traveled to France to attend to “a serious family matter.”
That is what Djorkaeff’s brother, Denis, told bigapplesoccer.com, a New York soccer web site. Youri had flown to Paris to visit his mother, who was ill in a hospital, and he will return in two weeks to the Red Bulls, according to Denis, his agent. The Djorkaeffs are one of French soccer’s most famous families. Jean Djoarkaeff, the father of Denis and Youri, played for France.
The Snake missed last Saturday’s Red Bulls game at New England and instead was seen on worldwide television sitting in the stands and watching the World Cup game between France and Brazil in Frankfurt the same day. The Red Bulls soon thereafter issued a statement that they had not been advised by Djorkaeff that he planned on watching the game.
Another postcript to the story: Djorkaeff was arrested by German police early in the day on Saturday, according to German newspaper Rheinpfalz. The Snake was arrested, then released, in a case related to his failure to pay 77,000 euros ($92,400), the fire for his leaving the scene of an accident in 2001 after his car scraped another vehicle in Kaiserslautern, where he played for the local Bundesliga club.