French soccer coach dropped 2 star players because of their star signs in 1998. He said he didn't trust Scorpios

When a soccer manager is a former player himself and has led the Under-21 team for eleven long years, you'd figure he knows exactly how the soccer pipeline works. Raymond Domenech, who was France's manager from 2004 to 2010, had this exact resume. He had seen it all, the grind, the egos, and the tactical discipline required to succeed. So, naturally, when he left two soccer players, Robert Pires and Bruno Pedretti, you'd expect it to be because of sporting reasons and not because they were Scorpios. As bizarre as it sounds, this is true, according to a report from March 25, 2008, by The Independent. 

The birth of this policy

The story started long before Domenech took the hot seat at Les Blues, while he was managing FC Mulhouse, a club in the fifth tier of the French league system. It was then, during an interview, that he attested to having astrology and star signs to select his teams. More interestingly, he later stated that a team cannot have more than one Scorpio in the squad. "Scorpios always end up killing each other," Domenech stated. 

He confirmed using astrology

While astrology might not have been his sole criterion for selecting his squad, Domenech did confess to using it during an interview with the TF1 television channel. He stated that he did give thought to a player's star sign. However, only "marginally, at the end of the selection process, when it is a question of choosing between players of equal ability." Nonetheless, even though that's quite unorthodox, Domenech did take the team within touching distance at the World Cup in 2006, going all the way to the finals, where they eventually lost on penalties to Italy. 

However, following that tournament, his team didn't even qualify for the knockouts. They were eliminated from the UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the group stage. After this, his stint ended with a lot of players complaining about his "rude" nature and terrible tactics. 

Controversial decisions

While Domenech confirmed that he had abandoned using astrology for team selection, he remained keenly interested in the topic. So much so that in an interview with the Guardian, he revealed that he'd study astrology and graphology. Naturally, when he made unusual selections, people and the media couldn't help but point out that it must be because of his love for the stars, the actual ones. One of his most controversial decisions came when he dropped Arsenal star winger Robert Pires from his squad ahead of the 2006 World Cup.

Looking at his past comments on astrology and on Scorpios specifically, people believed that it was because he was a Scorpio. And given that Domenech already had one in his team in Bruno Pedretti, perhaps he didn't want a clash of egos. Apparently, his alleged hate for Scorpios who seemingly worked against his interests was so deep that even Pedretti was soon discarded. However, later, in his book, he stated that Pires' rejection had nothing to do with astrology and was because he had a beef with the French star.

Many adults believe in astrology

Domenech is perhaps not the only adult who believes in astrology, thinking that it affects human traits. A lot of people would agree with the former French manager. In fact, about 30% of adults across all of America have consulted an astrologer, tarot card reader, or fortune teller once in the last 12 months, according to a study by Pew Research Center. What's more interesting is that out of these adults, about 27% believe in astrology, much like Domenech. Despite that, only about a small fraction of people, about 1%, rely a lot on their stars or are likely to use their learnings from astrology while making a major life decision.

No cherry-picking

Under a post by Mitu (@wearemitu) regarding Domenech's obsession with astrology, people weren't quite happy. @andrewandy458 commented, "Then he got an early exit at the 2008 Euros and a disaster group stage exit in the 2010 World Cup. Don’t cherry-pick." Meanwhile, @quirkeyspice pointed out, "This is so funny like Zidane and other senior players didn’t play the key role lol. Look at what happened in 2010 when it was all left to Domenech."

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