In a summer which lacks any major international sporting tournaments (no, the Lions and the Confederations Cup don't count) another one got underway during the week - the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Making their debut in the tournament were French Guiana. Their most notable player is Florent Malouda. But wait, didn't Florent Malouda play all the time for France? Yes, he did. But French Guiana are not official members of FIFA, so usually, FIFA's rules don't apply to them. For example, the international side competes in the Carribean Cup - which Malouda has played in three times.
The Gold Cup though, is a FIFA sanctioned tournament, under FIFA's rules. Which meant that Malouda was ineligible to play in the tournament for French Guiana.
Not that that stopped him. The midfielder played the full 90 minutes in Guiana's 0-0 draw with Honduras last night in Houston. Despite there being an extremely high possibility the game will be awarded to Honduras, Malouda didn't seem too bothered in a post match interview:
It was great. It was very emotional for me, I've waited a long time for the approval to be able to play,
It's a great honour for me to wear the armband and represent French Guiana in this level of competition, and that's very important for the people in my country as well, and so it's great to be out there.
And as for the next game against Costa Rica?
Now I have to recover. [Wednesday] we'll think about that game, but I'm expecting to play
The winners of the Gold Cup will represent the CONCACAF in the next Confederations Cup in four years time. A 41-year old Malouda probably won't be there.
The CONCACAF released a statement after the match which said the following:
In regards to the election of the French Guiana National Team to field player Florent Malouda in this evening's Gold Cup match against the Honduras National Team, the matter has been referred to the CONCACAF Gold Cup Disciplinary Committee. The Disciplinary Committee will review the case and render its decision in due time.
Malouda is best known for his six years at Chelsea where he won three FA Cups, a Champions League and a Premier League.
