The summer transfer window officially starts this Wednesday. But Paris FC supporters will have to wait to see new recruits arrive. The Parisian club, which finished 5th in L2, is still under a FIFA recruitment ban. The club appealed, accompanied by a request to suspend the decision in order to deal with this file as soon as possible. The goal is to avoid a procedure that could take a few weeks.
Even if the club has not necessarily planned to sign players in the coming days, a waste of time could indeed be detrimental on certain competitive files. Even if it is not necessarily linked to this case, striker Rémy Dugimont (14 goals with Auxerre this season) preferred to sign again with Auxerre rather than with Paris FC, which had offered him a two-year contract.
A decision suspended at first
On April 30, Fifa sanctioned Angers and Paris FC with a ban on recruitment. The two clubs are accused of having used a relay transfer (to circumvent the rule of compensation for training) in the transaction concerning Kevin Bemanga. Arrived at Paris FC from Xerez (Spanish D4), he had signed in early July 2020 a professional contract of one year to evolve in reserve (N2), before being transferred six weeks later to Angers (L1) for 250 000 euros. An operation, which seemed quite dubious in view of the player’s CV, which we had revealed in our columns at the time.
Both clubs had disputed these allegations and in a rather vehement manner regarding Pierre Ferracci, the president of Paris FC. He mentioned in early May “mafia-style operations aimed at racketeering the club.” Initially, FIFA suspended its decision, but on Monday it released the results of its investigation report in a long 18-page document. Not really convinced by the defense argument of the two clubs, the world body said that Paris and Angers failed to “reverse the presumption.”
Disturbing elements in the eyes of the Commission
“The Commission notes that the player has always been registered as an amateur, both during his career in France and in Spain. Moreover, Paris FC claim that the player’s return to France is the result of his poor playing time in Spain. However, the Commission finds it disturbing that an amateur player lacking playing time manages to sign his first professional contract with Paris FC upon his return to France, writes Fifa. The Commission is all the more surprised to note that Angers SCO has agreed to pay compensation of 250,000 euros in order to transfer the player from Paris FC to Angers SCO, less than six weeks after the conclusion of the first professional contract. of the player when the latter had only played a friendly match with Paris FC, which more is with the reserve team of the Club. “
For the Commission, “the relay transfer was set up in order to illegally bypass the system of training compensation”, considering that “Paris FC went against the intended goal, to ensure that the transfers have a legitimate purpose and that they are not intended to illegally circumvent Fifa regulations and applicable laws ”. She concludes: “In view of the aforementioned elements, it is obvious to the committee that the player’s registration with Paris FC was carried out for reasons other than participation in organized football. “
Despite everything, there is a certain “confidence” on the rest of the procedure on the side of Paris FC. With 25 players still under contract and a group that has proven its worth this season, he has plenty to see ahead while waiting to be able to recruit.
