Harassment and cover-up

Didier Ollé-Nicolle, the coach of Paris Saint-Germain Féminine, was accused of moral and sexual harassment of an underage player. Warned about it six months ago, the club didn’t take any action until the news spread on social media which led to Ollé-Nicolle’s provisional suspension.

By Romain Molina

In the middle of the last preseason, a 17 year-old player complained about inappropriate comments by her coach, Didier Ollé-Nicolle, who also allegedly touched her bottom. “It was a little bit shocking, honestly,” several first team players confirmed to Josimar. “It happened during our trip in the United States, but it didn’t make much noise at the time.”

In December, the father and the agent of the player attended a meeting with the sporting director Ulrich Ramé, the coordinator Sophie Perrichon and coach Didier Ollé-Nicolle. Discussing the player’s future, her father raised the matter of harassment, trying to contain his anger. Ollé-Nicolle told him that his daughter “didn’t understand what he had wanted to say.” On the other side of the table, Ulrich Ramé and Sophie Perrichon didn’t ask for more details, but told the coach to be a little more cautious.

However, on Monday night, shortly after a video made by the author of this article mentioning the case, a French journalist, Tiffany Henne, wrote about it on Twitter along with other allegations – that Ollé-Nicolle in fact had insulted several players. 24 hours later, PSG held a crisis meeting that led to the provisional suspension of Ollé-Nicolle and announced they would conduct an internal investigation. A majority of French media outlets published the news with some details provided by the club. The problem was, these details aren’t accura...