The French Football Federation has been roundly criticised for reports that ‘senior members’ have been attempting to introduce a limit on the number of players of African and Arabic descent in youth academies nationwide, with outrage coming from various sectors of the media and the government itself. Those accused of attempting to implement the reportedly have hotly denied the claims, but there still a number of extremely worrying quotes floating around regarding the whole affair.
French Football Federation Accused Of Institutionalized Racism
For example, Andre Merelle, the former manage of the National Training Centre at Clairefontaine, has asserted that the management of the French national team had issues with the racial balance of the squad under former manager Gerard Houllier*:
It was under [French football manager] Gerard Houllier’s helm. There was no official quota policy at the time, but a reflection about the numbers of black and Arabs. According to them, and that includes Francois Blaquart, there were too many.
And then there’s a rather damning remark from former Marseilles president Pape Diouf:
I don’t know if [the quota rumors] are true, but I am not surprised by the revelations. The truth is the following: French football is a reflection of [French] society. French football is racist, it excludes.
What seems clear from the scandal so far is that the FFF and the national team have created a culture where this sort of action would be at the very least plausible, and that alone is reason for concern. It does, however, come with a bright spot - French football is going to have to take a long, hard look at itself after this, and hopefully emerge a little less xenophobic afterwards.
*It's worth pointing out that Houllier, who currently managed English Premier League side Aston Villa, has never seemed to have any problems with non-white players over the course of his career, and brought in Jean II Makoun and Darren Bent during the January transfer window.
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