French Soccer Federation Faces Claims of Toxic Culture

Current and former French Football Federation execs say the "golden aura" from the men’s team winning the '18 World Cup and the country's successful hosting of the '19 Women’s World Cup "has masked at least two years of roiling discontent." The issues include "accusations of improper behavior by execs toward female staff members, charges of bullying by the organization’s director general and complaints about a toxic culture." Things have "gotten so bad" inside the federation’s Paris HQ, in fact, that President Noël Le Graët has brought in an outside expert to "guide his staff out of the tumult." More than a half-dozen current and former FFF employees "described a work environment in which bad language, mental abuse and stress were common, and where alcohol had fueled improper behavior at staff events" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/14).