Barthez quits Nantes amidst fears for safety

PARIS -- Former French national goalie Fabien Barthez is quitting Nantes, saying he fears for his safety from angry fans.

Nantes is in last place in the French league after a 2-0 home defeat to Rennes on Saturday.

Barthez, a World Cup and European Championship winner with France, has made costly errors in recent matches -- and was booed and jeered by some Nantes fans during Saturday's game. Several fans surrounded Barthez's car as he left the Stade de la Beaujoire, kicked the vehicle and tried to pull him out.

"I'm not going to play again with Nantes," Barthez said on France-Info radio Monday. "A gang of five or six guys came to block me from leaving the stadium. They were there to rub me out, as they said."

Barthez said fans are free to boo, but he draws the line at threats.

"To whistle me throughout the match, I accept that, that's part of the atmosphere," he said. "With Nantes, I would have gone to the end, but that goes beyond the realm of sports."

Barthez said the team offered to provide security for him until the end of the season, but he refused.

"I am not ready, I will never live like that," he said. "I no longer feel secure like that, so I prefer to leave."

Barthez, a former goalie for Manchester United, retired after France lost the 2006 World Cup final on penalty kicks to Italy. Nantes president Rudi Roussillon persuaded him to change his mind and he signed a contract with the club in January until the end of the season.

Saturday's defeat left Nantes, an eight-time French champion, facing possible demotion for the first time in 44 years. With four games left in the 20-team French league, Nantes has 30 points -- eight points behind 17th-place Nice.