Zidane faces first crisis: France's security chief threatened with dismissal

Mohamed Sanhadji, head of security for the French national team for around twenty years, was placed under formal investigation on September 16 for receiving stolen public funds, corruption and influence peddling. The French Football Federation (FFF) has since suspended him provisionally and initiated disciplinary proceedings that could result in his dismissal.

The case implicates several international players, including Kylian Mbappé. Sanhadji is suspected of having received money and favours from certain players. His formal investigation is accompanied by judicial supervision prohibiting him from visiting Clairefontaine, making it impossible for him to perform his duties.

Philippe Diallo, president of the FFF, spoke on Thursday on the sidelines of the federation’s executive committee meeting. While emphasizing the “very positive services” rendered by Sanhadji over two decades and the attachment of successive players and coaches to him, he justified the FFF’s decision. “In September, he is under formal investigation with judicial supervision that prevents him from performing his duties with French football. And so the FFF made the decision to provisionally suspend him, and he is subject to a request for a preliminary meeting,” he detailed.

Diallo recalled the context that had led to keeping Sanhadji on the staff until now. An administrative inquiry conducted the previous year had already resulted in his early retirement at the end of December 2025, but the proximity of the World Cup had prompted the FFF to offer him a fixed-term contract until the tournament. “We were six months away from the World Cup and a consensus formed around the idea that, given such an important deadline, the commander could continue his activities,” he explained, also invoking the presumption of innocence.

After the World Cup, Sanhadji was retained in the new staff assembled around Zinédine Zidane, officially appointed manager on July 28. His formal investigation ended that continuity. For Zidane, barely settled at the helm of the Blues, the matter constitutes the first sensitive issue to manage before sporting preparations have truly begun.