Mohamed Sanhadji, the France squad’s policeman, nearly placed in pre-trial detention amid probe | OneFootball

Mohamed Sanhadji, the France squad’s long-serving policeman, came close to pre-trial detention amid an explosive investigation into alleged abuse of his functions, L'Équipe reports.

He is nicknamed La République by players and staff, who have adored him for two decades and consider him the guardian of their secrets.

He is routinely entrusted with the most delicate matters. He was alerted after the ultra-violent kidnapping of Paul Pogba by heavily armed men in March 2022.

Didier Deschamps called on him to testify in court in November 2025, after RMC pundit Daniel Riolo accused the coach of lying about the handling of Karim Benzema’s injury at the World Cup in Qatar.

He organised Antoine Griezmann’s witness hearing at Clairefontaine in the paedophilia case targeting his former mentor, Eric Olhats.

He also featured on the fringes of the Mathieu Valbuena sextape affair in 2014, seeking to understand what had happened.

Source: L'Équipe

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