French football was plunged into turmoil after the website Mediapart (www.mediapart.fr) revealed the plans of the FFF to enforce racial quotas in youth academies. The proposed quota by the governing-body of football in France is intended to limit the number of players of African and Arab origin footballers.

According to the Mediapart report, the FFF has instructed football academies to recruit no more than 30 percent from African or Arab teenage players. It is believed that the plan was presented in a meeting held by FFF’s National Development Program (DTN) on November 8, 2010.

France’s national team coach Laurent Blanc and technical director Francois Blaquart were the main leaders behind the quota plans according to the reports. Blanc is quoted as addressing the participants of the meeting that he favored players having, “our culture and our history.”

The proposal was apparently approved in early 2011 and instructions were then sent to the academies and the training center directors, including the French National Football Institute (INF).

Technical director Francois Blaquart was suspended earlier today after a meeting by French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno and FFF president Fernand Duchausso.

The sports ministry released following statement after the meeting:
“Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno and FFF president Fernand Duchaussoy have decided to suspend immediately national technical director Francois Blaquart pending the conclusions of an investigation led by the FFF and the IGJS (General Inspection of Youth and Sports).”

The investigation is expected to be completed within eight days.

France is known as a melting pot in Europe with many immigrants influencing the French society. Especially African and Arab people prefer to immigrate to France as they don’t have to fear any language barriers.

French football has been dominated by stars with a foreign background in the last few years with the likes of Zinédine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Youri Djorkaeff, Nicolas Anelka, Djibril Cissé and many more making the headlines for the “Les Bleus”.

Indian origin footballer Vikash Dhorasoo was part of the 1998 World Cup winning France squad, which was famously called the “Black-Blanc-Beur” (Black, White, Arab). But it seems like those days are gone and French football is looking for a questionable révolution française…