Paris, France (CNN) -- Four members of the French national soccer team were punished by a disciplinary commission Tuesday following an inquiry into the team's much criticized performance and behavior at this summer's World Cup.
The French Football Federation's commission announced that Nicolas Anelka -- whose suspension from the World Cup tournament sparked a revolt by his teammates -- was suspended for 18 games of the national team, former team captain Patrice Evra was suspended for five games, Franck Ribery received a three-game suspension and Jeremy Toulalan was suspended from one game.
The commission noted that it had also heard player Eric Abidal's explanations, and he was not suspended from play with the national team.
Evra, Toulalan and Abidal were said to have met with the commission in Paris Tuesday. Ribery and Anelka were not present at the meeting but were represented by lawyers at the session.
The players have the right to appeal the commission's decision, the FFF said.
France, which won the World Cup in 1998 and reached the finals four years ago, was forced out of this year's tournament early on, during the group stage. CNN
