France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan says all his teammates decided to strike at the World Cup and that any punishment should be collective.
Toulalan said in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper on Sunday that he was ''not proud'' about the players' decision to boycott a training session shortly before their World Cup ended in the group stage, but ''I accept responsibility.''
Former international Lilian Thuram said defender Patrice Evra should never play again for France because he was the captain who led the strike.
Toulalan, who plays at Lyon, said all players were involved and ''whoever says the opposite is a liar.''
The strike was to protest Nicolas Anelka's exclusion from the squad following an expletive-filled tirade directed at France coach Raymond Domenech.
Toulalan also admitted that his personal press officer helped the players write the letter explaining their strike. Domenech agreed to read the letter to the media.
''With a few players, we wrote down a few ideas to explain our views,'' Toulalan said. ''Then with the help of our advisers we tried to put it in shape to make sure we would be understood.''
