On Thursday 8 June 2023, the French Football Federation announced it was opening an internal investigation after allegations of “moral and sexual harassment” formulated in the magazine Then foot by former referee Nicolas Pottier, president of the Mayenne district and head of amateur refereeing at the FFF. The latter explains that he filed a complaint on February 14 for “sexual and moral harassment in the private and professional context”also for “rape against X” concerning events that allegedly occurred in May 2009 after a match that he was officiating.
A homophobic and archaic system
In the pages of the magazine Then foot, Nicolas Pottier criticizes the FFF arbitration system for operating on cronyism and for being based on a climate of systemic homophobia. The former referee believes he has been penalized during his career for having openly assumed his homosexuality, perceived as “a problem in the middle”. He says to himself “victim of a conspiracy” prevented him from growing professionally, despite his debut at the age of 29 in the first division, and questions a “opaque, perverse and obsolete system”.
The issue of homophobia in football (and in sport more generally) is regularly raised. However, the football authorities are illustrated by their inaction.
In mid-May, several French players, for example, had refused to wear jerseys with the flocked rainbow flag. It happens too often that certain matches are interspersed with homophobic chants from the stands. In a press release, the group fighting homophobia in amateur and professional sport Rouge Direct asked in May to “a real policy to fight homophobia in football, like in England or Germany among others”and then he denounced the“inertia of the football authorities”.
The expected FFF on the turn
Regarding the allegations of harassment and rape, the FFF has taken up the case, declaring itself diligent “immediately by the employer an internal investigation entrusted to a specialized external company, Alcens”. She also says she is prepared to file a civil suit in the legal proceedings following the rape complaint. A reaction that Nicolas Pottier welcomes.
The Federation also plans to nominate soon “a qualified and independent personality to lead a mission of analysis (…) of the federal arbitration policy, in order to strengthen, if necessary, its effectiveness”.
Second THE huffpost, another complaint was filed Thursday with the public prosecutor by the FFF regarding the behavior of Daniel Galletti, former president of the Commission of Referees of the Paris Île-de-France League. As related Then footis accused of having “offered yes votes to young umpires, sometimes minors, in exchange for sexual favours”.
It is not the first time that the FFF has been reported for cases of gender-based and sexual violence within it. A few months earlier, the Ministry of Sport had ordered an audit of the FFF, the results of which have been highlighted “profound dysfunctions” french football “in the fight against and prevention of gender-based and sexual violence”. Its former president, Noël Le Graët, also ended up resigning in late February, amid reports of sexual harassment. Several journalistic investigations had demonstrated the role of the FFF in covering up allegations of abuse, blackmail and sexual harassment to which it was subjected for decades.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
