Football coach cleared, but comments 'borderline racist'

Published on Tuesday 10 May 2011 16:09

France's sports minister yesterday cleared national team coach Laurent Blanc of race discrimination claims, but criticised comments made in a meeting discussing possible quotas in the country's football academies as "borderline tending toward racist".

Chantal Jouanno said no anti-discrimination laws were broken when Blanc and football federation colleagues discussed whether quotas should be introduced to curb training academy access for young French players with dual nationality, many of them black and Arab.

"It emerges very clearly that ways to limit the numbers of so-called dual-national players … including putting in place quotas were, in fact, debated" at the 8 November French Football Federation meeting of coaches that Blanc attended, Ms Jouanno said. "The subject was raised in a manner both clumsy and clearly uncalled for, clearly uncalled for.

"The general impression that emerges is really very unpleasant, with innuendoes that very often were borderline tending toward racist."

The FFF's own inquiry also cleared Blanc, but reproached him for taking part in a discussion that they insist should never have happened. "Laurent Blanc is angry with himself for what he said and can't believe he made (those comments]," said Patrick Braouezec, the head of FFF's separately commissioned inquiry.

While possible quotas were discussed, Ms Jouanno said the idea was subsequently dismissed and they weren't implemented. For that reason, she said there were no grounds to start legal proceedings.

"This solution of quotas was discarded," Ms Jouanno said. "Our evidence does not establish the existence of any system of quotas or plans for discriminatory quotas … It is clear that there is no element or bundle of evidence that would allow one to say or to suspect that there was an infringement of the anti-discrimination law. I'm not here to chop off heads. It's not my role."

News website Mediapart first reported details of the meeting, sparking argument and soul-searching about racism in France, which won the 1998 World Cup with a multi- racial team. Blanc played on that side. Former teammates Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira were among Blanc's critics in the wake of Mediapart's revelations. But others including Zinedine Zidane supported him.

Ms Jouanno defended Blanc, saying it was the first time that the coach had been to this type of FFF meeting. "He wasn't the organiser. He wasn't the pilot," she said.

She said the coach was very surprised to learn at the meeting that many youths who could play for France end up playing for other countries. She said Blanc has proved in his career that he does not discriminate.

According to Mediapart's transcript, Blanc told the meeting "it bothers me enormously" when players who represented France at youth level later "go to play in North African or African teams".

But Ms Jouanno said in Blanc's defence that he also told the meeting: "If there are only blacks in the training centres and these blacks are French and want to play in the France team that is all fine by me."