Scandal threatens Zidane's confidence with the Bleus
Zinedine Zidane was supposed to be the only staff member of Didier Deschamps to continue the adventure with France's national team. Mohamed Sanhadji was among the twenty‑three members presented in August, just after the appointment of the new manager. The fifty‑seven‑year‑old police commander was highly regarded by Deschamps, who had seen him start alongside the French side in 2004.
A police commander at the heart of the staff
Sanhadji, nicknamed “La République”, had been the keeper of the French national team’s secrets for two decades. He had offered to take charge of Zidane’s personal security while the player was in Madrid, but the player refused, preferring to remain loyal to France. His role extended to the Pogba, Valbuena, Benzema and Griezmann files, where he calmed the storms.
His reputation for incorruptibility made him the privileged confidant of the players, who turned to him for dental care, match tickets or holidays. In return, some sought to obtain services through his influence within the police.
The investigation that blew everything wide open
The financial and disciplinary investigation revealed by L’Équipe uncovered massive abuses. In the summer of 2025, Le Canard enchaîné disclosed a donation of €180,300 given by Kylian Mbappé to five security officers after the World Cup in Qatar, of which Sanhadji received €60,300 without declaring it to the tax authorities.
Tracfin and the IGPN seized the case, raising questions about Sanhadji’s status, who was detached for only 80 days a year to the French Football Federation while continuing to receive his full civil servant salary. The police accuse him of siphoning €300,000 from players at the end of 2025, which led to his forced retirement.
Reintegrated into Didier Deschamps’s staff in a private capacity, he was quickly caught up by the justice system. On 16 September 2026, he was placed under formal investigation for receipt of misappropriated public funds, active and passive corruption, influence peddling and fraud. He avoided prison thanks to a €80,000 bail, but the judicial control bars him from any contact with football.
The inquiry targeted the French Football Federation and Fayza Lamari, Kylian Mbappé’s mother. Between 2022 and 2024, the “police officer of the French side” is alleged to have extracted more than €300,000 from about fifteen players, claiming an urgent need for money to buy a residence in memory of his father. Wiretaps showed that he wanted to finance a rental investment, exploiting the credulity of the internationals, with Mbappé allegedly providing a loan of €120,000 through his mother.
“If this gets out, it will be my end,” Sanhadji told Mattéo Guendouzi at the end of 2024. The scandal, now public, shakes the trust that linked the French national team to its police commander, reminding everyone of the fragility of the protection networks surrounding the France team.