The agent for Youri Djorkaeff said the New York Red Bulls forward will return to the club -- in two weeks.
Denis Djorkaeff, who is also Youri's brother as well as his agent, said Monday that Youri will return to the MLS club after he takes care of personal business in France.
Denis said that Youri is visiting their mother in a hospital in France.
He added that reports that his brother only flew to Europe to watch France play Brazil in a World Cup quarterfinal in Frankfurt were not true. Djorkaeff was a starter in France's 1998 world championship side and is good friends with French star Zinedine Zidane.
"I don't know who is writing this," Denis said by telephone from Paris. "It is not true. After two weeks, he comes to New York and plays."
Denis confirmed that Youri did attend the World Cup match.
"Today he is in France because my mother is in the hospital," he said.
Youri caused a major controversy when he was spotted by TV cameras in the Frankfurt stands in France's 1-0 victory over the defending champions Saturday.
That same day, the New York Red Bulls were taking on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium, where they lost 3-2. The Red Bulls had made an announcement saying Djorkaeff had been allowed to go to France to attend to a personal matter, but then before the game, the club issued another statement regarding Djorkaeff's situation after he was seen in the World Cup broadcast.
"At no point did Youri state that part of his trip was to attend the World Cup game between France and Brazil in Frankfurt, Germany or that he had any ill-feeling towards the organization," the statement read. "We will be addressing the situation with Youri as soon as possible."
Denis would not say why his mother is in the hospital, saying that "she needs to rest."
Denis said his brother did not want to talk to the media.
"It is not possible," he said. "He wants to be with my mother and he doesn't want to talk."
After Denis Djorkaeff's comments, the Red Bulls said they were going to stick with their Saturday statement.
Voted MetroStars MVP a year ago while collecting 10 goals and seven assists in 24 games, the 38-year-old Djorkaeff has just two goals and three assists this season.
Djorkaeff has been frustrated by the Red Bulls' play, declining to speak to reporters on several occasions, including after last week's scoreless tie with the Columbus Crew.
There has been speculation that Djorkaeff is very frustrated with all the changes at the Red Bulls. They have had three coaches in nine months and three general managers in a year. The former MetroStars were sold to Austrian energy drink maker Red Bull in March and renamed and rebranded the Red Bulls.
Michael Lewis writes about soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
