a judge investigates possible ethnic registration in the 2010s, after a first classification without further action in 2022

A Parisian investigating judge has been investigating possible ethnic registration of players at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the 2010s for several months, after receiving a complaint from the Human Rights League (LDH), Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned on Wednesday October 16 from sources close to the matter. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed to AFP that it had opened a judicial investigation in May in this case, which has already been the subject of a first investigation, closed in August 2022.

“PSG did not commit any discrimination, as demonstrated by the prosecution. The latter has already indicated that it has rendered a classification without further action in this case”reacted the club, defended by M^e Antoine Maisonneuve.

At the end of 2018, a media collective, notably Mediapart and “Special Envoy” in France, revealed that the recruitment unit of the Parisian club had mentioned ethnic criteria between 2013 and 2018 in its evaluation sheets for young players, classified as ” French “, « Maghrébin », “West Indian”, “African”.

PSG initially defended itself by explaining that the listing had been the result of a “personal initiative of the manager” of the “recruitment unit of the training center, dedicated to territories outside Ile-de-France”managed at the time by Marc Westerloppe, who left at the start of 2018 for Stade Rennes. But, quickly, everyday life The Team had produced a document according to which ethnic criteria also appeared on files from the Ile-de-France unit.

LFP fine in 2019

In the wake of these revelations, PSG launched an internal investigation which concluded that there was no “no proven cases of discrimination”despite the existence of an ethnic listing, and announced “measures aimed at strengthening ethical practices” within it.

After these revelations, the club was fined 100,000 euros in January 2019 by the disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League. Several club officials were also given suspended fines.

In criminal proceedings, the LDH had filed a complaint against X for discrimination and collection and processing of personal data revealing racial or ethnic origins.

The criminal investigation was closed in August 2022 for “insufficiently characterized offense”but the LDH filed a new complaint with the creation of a civil party in early 2023. “We are very satisfied that this procedure has been opened, despite the dismissal by a section of the Paris prosecutor’s office”commented M^e Arié Alimi, LDH lawyer contacted by AFP. “The motivations question the positioning of this section, responsible in theory for combating discrimination and hate speech”he added.