Claudio Ranieri’s return to management delayed by bizarre French FA rule

After being given the boot by Leicester City last season, Claudio Ranieri is ready for a return to football management.

As reports on Monday correctly identified, the Italian is set to take charge at Ligue 1 side, Nantes, just over a year on from guiding the Foxes to Premier League glory. Although the club's chairman Waldemar Kita has indicated that the league has approved the deal, Ranieri's return is yet to be confirmed by the French Football Federation. As pointed out by the Daily Mail, the reason for this delay appears to be Ranieri's age. According to FFF rules, clubs are not permitted to appoint managers over the age of 65 and the former Chelsea and Roma boss reached his 65th birthday last October. "What we are interested in is the experience of Ranieri as a footballer and coach, since we know that he has coached the biggest teams in Europe," Kita told France Info. Nantes have asked the French FA to make an exception to the rule on this occasion, in the same way they did with the appointment of Guy Roux at Lens in 2007. Roux, who came out of retirement to take the position at Lens, had been 68 at the time.