In a 21-page document, which RMC Sport was able to consult, it appears that several former professional players have filed a complaint with the Paris Public Prosecutor for “fraud” and “active corruption of a private agent”. Jérémy Pied, Issa Cissoko and Jimmy Briand, represented by Mes Elie Dottelonde and Laure Diu-Lambrechts, are mainly targeting the Panini company and its director Alain Guerrini, as well as the UNFP and its president Philippe Piat. A file that seeks to highlight “the close relations” between the two men.
Complainants placed “in a relationship of trust”
After recalling the entire mechanism of the commercialisation of the image rights of professional footballers and denouncing “the opacity of the financial flows and links” between the different leaders of the stakeholders, the complaint states that “the UNFP abuses its status as the sole union” to arrogate to itself “rights subsequently lucratively commercialised by its commercial subsidiary, Promofoot”.
And to add: “the UNFP knowingly deceived professional footballers and its intention is characterized by the complexity of the mechanism explained above and its obvious desire to obtain funds from the marketing of rights usurped from the latter”. Before continuing: “This intention is first of all characterized by the abuse by the UNFP of its status as the sole representative union of professional football players, a status which has the effect of placing the complainants in a relationship of trust”.
Seven players, through their lawyers, filed this complaint, which is based on numerous press articles and the judgment of the Paris Judicial Court dated May 15, 2024, which ruled in favor of former Ligue 1 footballers for infringement of their image rights. “Then, the UNFP’s awareness of the fraudulent nature of the usurpation of rights is further characterized by the fraudulent maneuvers it carries out to obtain these rights.
These manoeuvres are characterised by the introduction of Article 280d into the Charter, by the insertion, in its membership form, of a paragraph relating to the transfer of the image rights of footballers for its sole benefit and finally by the delivery of a certificate of payment, a certificate which seems to have the sole purpose of conferring a semblance of legality to the fraudulent usurpation perpetrated to the detriment of professional football players”, we can read in this document which denounces “opaque conditions in which the UNFP transfers the fraudulently acquired rights to its commercial subsidiary”.
“Necessarily intentional advantages”
Finally, the document seeks to demonstrate “advantages” granted in “return” for a “monopoly granted” to Panini by the UNFP “regarding the exploitation of the image of professional athletes”. According to the complaint, “these advantages (…) are necessarily intentional and are notably caused by the friendly and financial ties uniting Philippe Piat and Alain Guerrini”.
And to continue: “There is also a professional understanding between these two presidents that goes beyond the scope of this Complaint, in addition to the Contract, they are partners in multiple companies and Philippe Piat shows unwavering support for his friend by using his position within French professional football to facilitate his access to key positions, as recently by supporting his candidacy for the presidency of the League”. Before concluding: “The intentional element of the corruption of a private agent is therefore characterized both with regard to the corrupter, the UNFP, and the corrupted, the Panini company”.
- RMC Sport
