FFF starts quota investigation

The French Football Federation has launched its inquiry into reports members of its staff had supported ethnic-minority quotas in national teams.

French website Mediapart reported last week that France manager Laurent Blanc met with FFF technical director Francois Blaquart, under-21 coach Erik Mombaerts and under-20 coach Francis Smerecki to discuss a plan to limit the number of black and north African native players entering national football academies from ages 12 and up.

The meeting was alleged to have occurred on November 8 last year.

Blaquart was suspended on Saturday, pending the result of the investigation.

The FFF announced their intentions to find if there was any element of truth behind the allegations squared at the establishment.

”The French Football Federation, in accordance with the commitment they made in response to disclosures by a website, have today (Tuesday) set up a Commission of Inquiry to hear charged mainly with the task of hearing those who have been named in order to determine whether the elements revealed last Saturday are true,” the statement read.

The FFF’s managing director Alain Resplandy-Bernard will oversee the commission, and the statement added that the inquiry should be completed within seven days.

The FFF’s director Patrick Braouezec and National Council of Ethics president Laurent Davenas will join Resplandy-Bernard on the commission.