Accounting data from the French Football Federation, consulted by “Le Monde”, reveal disturbing elements on the financial practices of the institution after the World Blues Sacre in 2018.
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Outside view, the French Football Federation (FFF) has a reputation for being a well-kept “home”. Boulevard de Grenelle, at the Paris headquarters of the “3F”, the terms of “healthy management” and “transparency” are pronounced by the federal executives since the election to the presidency, in 2011, of the entrepreneur Christmas Le Graët, today 80 years old.
While put in place a social plan, in 2021, in order to eliminate eighteen positions (ten procedures are prud’hommes) due to “budgetary difficulties”, Florence Hardouin, the Director-General (DG ), certify that, “on financial management, everything is framed”. “Nobody can pass a contract in his corner. You can not hide anything today,” she adds.
Accounting data from the FFF consulted by Le Monde, however, reveal a more troubled reality in the FASTE period that followed the World Blue Title of 2018. At the time, money flows and, according to these Data, the Federation explodes its costs in providers. Tens of millions of euros are paid to external companies (17.4 million euros to the main suppliers) during the 2018-2019 season.
Four invoices that challenge
In this context, four invoices recorded in 2019 in the Debit column call: 20,000 euros in total have been paid to the 2017 Council and Public Relations Agency. The only link between this company co-founded by Denis Pingaud, Romain Abreu and Gaspard Gantzer, former Communication Counselor of President François Hollande, and the world of the round ball, is the journalist Nathalie Iannetta, 49 years old.
Former Sport and Associative Life Advisor (2014-2016) at the Elysee, M me Iannetta has been associated with the 2018 agency at 2020, after a passage as a councilor at the Presidency of UEFA. The current Director of Radio France Sports has sent four invoices to the FFF. All have as “sponsor” the FFF DG, M me Hardouin.
The first, of € 3,500, in April 2019, is stamped “heritage accompaniment”. The Heritage Program has been set up by FFF services for € 15 million to develop female football training and infrastructure before the 2019 World Cup organized in the hexagon.
The second invoice, of € 4,500, in May 2019, is justified by the mention “Heritage Place Women”. The third, 8,000 euros, in June 2019, was recorded for the “heritage accompaniment”. Finally, the fourth, 4,000 euros, at the end of June 2019, does not have a justification – it deals with “FNP OX” – and has been clearly registered by the Assistant of President Le Graët.
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