France Pierron removed from air after controversial comments on Jérémy Doku

France Pierron was not on air Monday morning to present her usual show on L’Equipe. The former presenter was temporarily removed following comments made Friday evening in which she criticized Belgian midfielder Jérémy Doku for considering temporarily leaving his national team to attend the birth of his child.

Sunday evening, L’Equipe group management published an official statement distancing itself from its journalist’s remarks, stating it disassociated itself “from these statements far removed from the Group’s values” and apologized “to the footballer concerned and more broadly to its audience”.

Monday, France Pierron was replaced as presenter of the show L’Equipe du choc — broadcast at 11 a.m. — by former player Pierre Bouby, one of her regular contributors. Before the program began, the channel rebroadcast the statement released the previous day.

Management also supplemented its initial text with a third paragraph, absent from the first version. After unambiguously condemning France Pierron’s remarks, it explicitly calls for an end to the cyberharvassment the journalist has been subjected to since her statements were broadcast. This dual positioning — professional sanction on one side, employee protection on the other — reflects the group’s desire to manage a controversy that quickly spread on social media and across all media outlets.

The duration of France Pierron’s removal from air was not specified by management.