On the red carpet of the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, his presence did not surprise the football microcosm. Intendant of the France team since 2015, Bachir Nehar, 50, would not have missed the Ballon d’Or award ceremony for the world on November 29. At his side was the Russian Vadim Vasilyev, former vice-president of AS Monaco. The two men know each other well: since 2020, Mr. Nehar has been an employee of VV Consulting, a sports management and consulting agency created by Mr. Vasilyev and which represents the interests and manages the careers of around thirty players.
By becoming a “team manager”, “consultant for high level athletes” or “consultant pro players” for VV Consulting, as he presents himself on social networks, the former manager of AS Monaco (2004-2020) has however retained his position within the staff of the France team. A man of confidence and friend of coach Didier Deschamps, he took over from “Manu” De Faria, historic “warehouse keeper” of the Blues until 2016, and manages the equipment of the Tricolores.
This double hat is a subject of conflict with the corporation of players’ agents. Stéphane Canard, the president of the Union of French Sports Agents (UASF), the union of licensed agents of the French Football Federation (FFF), expressed his dissatisfaction to the Director General of the FFF, Florence Hardouin, in an e-mail dated February 5, that The world consulted.
“Major conflict of interest”
Holding “To attract attention” of the leader “On an unacceptable situation”, Mr. Canard wrote that “The presence in the staff of Didier Deschamps of Mr. Bachir Nehar constitutes a major conflict of interest which you must put an end to urgently”. “There is no personal fight against Mr. Nehar, whom many of us have known and appreciated during his mission at AS Monaco, specifies the president of the UASF in this email, with a copy of ten influential agents of French football and the legal director of the FFF, Jean Lapeyre. But today, he cannot jointly remain the intendant of the Blues and be an employee of an agency headed by Mr. Vasilyev. We know the affection that Didier Deschamps and yourself have for Mr. Nehar, but having regard to the requirement, even the intransigence, of your services on the respect of the rules towards the licensed FFF agents, and for the FFF institution, you owe it to yourself to decide: it’s either the French team or the agency. Both are impossible. “
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