'Football Leaks': PSG accused of 'ethnic recruitment'

According to 'Mediapart', which conducted a length investigation based on documents obtained by 'Football Leaks', scouts for the club were asked to identify scouted talent as French (“Français”), North African (“Maghrébin”), West Indian (“Antillais”), or Black Africa (“Afrique noir”).

According to Serge Fournier, then PSG scout for the Normandy region, the term 'French' was used exclusively for white players.

"Yes, there should have been written ‘white’. All the more so because all the players we recommended were French. PSG didn’t want us to recruit players born in Africa, because one is never certain about their dates of birth," he said to 'Mediapart'. 

The source also punlished the minutes of a March 2014 meeting, where the issue of signing Yann Gboho was raised.

Marc Westerloppe, then a scout for the club, said: "The club has an orientation problem, we need more of a balance in the mix, there are too many West Indian and Africans around Paris."

The minutes euphemistically suggest that this statement provoked "lively debate". In response, the management allegedly summoned Westerloppe to a meeting where he was told he would be sanctioned - however, this sanction never came.

Malek Boutih, president of anti-racism group SOS Racism, attempted to play down the role of the PSG management in the cover-up.

"There was no omerta, the management never saw these documents," he said when questioned by 'Mediapart'.