An investigation was opened in Paris, notably for harassment and discrimination, after a report accusing football clubs of “abusing” the practice of “lofting” to “make players bend”.
These investigations, entrusted to the Brigade for the repression of delinquency against the person (BRDP) of the judicial police, follow a report from the president of the association “Les Travailleurs du vivre ensemble” (LOVE), indicated Tuesday the Paris prosecutor's office, requested by the AFP.
During the summer transfer period, governed by the collective agreement for professional footballers, clubs can place the players they want to part with in a “loft”, a sort of shelving adapted to the grass: no more training with the group professional, no more travel, no matches…
According to article 507 of the French Football Charter, which serves as a collective agreement, clubs however have duties towards these players: allowing them access to locker rooms, training infrastructures, medical care "possibly different but of identical quality”… They must also provide them with the equipment “intended for all professional players” and offer them training schedules “compatible with the other preparation and training conditions of the main group of professionals, as well as respectful of the health of the players”.
Noël Le Graët targeted
This “loft” must end on September 1, the closing date of the transfer market.
“When the loft really respects the contours of article 507 and it is put in place for sporting criteria, it is not condemnable.
But there are abuses to force the player to comply,” the president of the LOVE association, Sullivan Jous, told AFP, who is taking steps to make himself heard.
This “abusive” sidelining pushes players to extend their contract at the club or, conversely, to accept a transfer - a way for their employer to separate from them while ensuring they receive compensation - or even terminate their contract.
In January and April 2023, Sullivan Jous detailed to BRDP investigators the case of former Reims striker Anatole Ngamukol, dismissed for serious misconduct in 2018 after refusing to be sidelined from the professional group and making the subject to pressure from his management.
Stade de Reims was sentenced to industrial tribunal in May 2022 for unfair dismissal.
Also read “Mbappé, the last straw”: why the footballers’ union is attacking the practice of “lofting”
His association also denounced to investigators the “perpetual inaction” of Noël Le Graët: in his eyes, the former president of the French Football Federation (FFF) “did not provide assistance to professional football players who were victims of harassment knowing that harassment can lead to suicide.”
Noël Le Graët's lawyer could not immediately be reached.
The FFF did not wish to react.
It is the “responsibility” of football authorities “to ensure strict respect for the fundamental rights of footballers, and to take all measures to protect them,” insisted Mr. Jous.
Another complaint from the UNFP
At the same time, a complaint was filed against players in order, according to the union, to “maximize the price of transfers”.
The union relied on a list of around fifty players placed in “loft” but who were not involved in the preparation of the complaint.
“The number of victims” is even “much higher” in a sector where “a form of omerta reigns”, estimated in January the lawyers of the UNFP, Mes Julia Minkowski and Léon del Forno.
According to a source close to the case, this complaint is being analyzed by the public prosecutor's office.