Marc Westerloppe (born 14 June 1960)[1] is a French football manager and scout, and former midfielder.
Career edit
Westerloppe managed Le Mans FC from July 1997 to November 2000, spending all that time in Ligue 2. In 1998–99, the team reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France, losing 4–3 after extra time away to CS Sedan Ardennes.[2] He signed and gave a professional debut to Didier Drogba during his time at the club; after his sacking, Drogba's career momentarily declined under new manager Thierry Goudet.[3]
Remaining in Ligue 2, Westerloppe led Grenoble Foot 38 for 16 games in the first half of the 2001–02 season, being sacked after seven games without a win.[4]
Westerloppe was a scout for RC Lens for over a decade before moving to Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in 2013. In 2018, the website Football Leaks uploaded documents allegedly from Westerloppe, claiming that the club was recruiting too many black players. He was allegedly investigated by the club for this stance in 2014 and denied the accusations.[5] In January 2019, Westerloppe was fined €5,000 by the Ligue de Football Professionnel for PSG's collection of data on race of recruits, which is illegal in France. The league concluded that the matter was negligent, but not discriminatory.[6]
In January 2018, Westerloppe left PSG for Stade Rennais F.C. also of Ligue 1.[7]
References edit
- ^ "Marc Westerloppe". TNT Sports. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ Cheron, Christian (27 April 2020). "Football. Rétro : la demi-finale de Coupe de France 1999 du MUC 72 à Sedan" [Football. Retro: MUC 72's 1999 Coupe de France semi-final at Sedan]. Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ Sinnott, John (19 July 2004). "Drogba finds his feet". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ Sougey, Frédéric (15 December 2021). "Ces entraîneurs qui n'ont pas fait long feu sur le banc du GF38" [Those managers who did not last long on the GF38 bench] (in French). Grenoble Foot Info. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ Britton, Bianca (9 November 2018). "Paris Saint-Germain at center of storm over racially profiling young players". CNN. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
According to the documents leaked to Mediapart, the club's former chief scout, Marc Westerloppe, said: "There are too many West Indians and Africans in Paris" and that there was a "problem with the direction of the club. [...] Mediapart says Westerloppe was summoned to a meeting in June 2014 in which he rejected the accusations against him as "false, malicious and stupid."
- ^ "Paris Saint-Germain fined $114,000 for racially profiling players". CNN. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ "OFFICIEL - Marc Westerloppe quitte le PSG pour Rennes" [OFFICIAL - Marc Westerloppe leaves PSG for Rennes] (in French). Goal. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2024.