While FC Nantes is experiencing a particularly complicated start to the season, three months after its relegation to Ligue 2, a sprawling legal case is shaking the institution. At the heart of the investigations carried out by Rennes investigating judge Jérémy Mouchette, the case focuses on an alleged network of illegal exercise of the profession of sports agent, abuse of corporate assets and money laundering by an organized gang. It is in this highly sensitive context that the name of a historic member of the Blues appears: Moussa Sissoko.
The former French international with 71 caps now sees his name associated with this financial scandal which hits the Canaries. Now aged 37 and under contract with Panathinaikos, the versatile midfielder – who played for Toulouse, Newcastle, Tottenham and Watford – is directly indicted for “use of forgery in public writing”.
Justice is interested in the period when Sissoko played in the Nantes jersey (2022-2024), but also and above all in his very close relationship with one of the key figures in the case: Bakari Sanogo. The latter, who does not hold an agent license in France, is suspected of having operated in the shadows at the FCN via nominees. However, the intermediary is none other than the uncle and historical agent of Moussa Sissoko.
FC Nantes would have paid €8.2 million to Bakari Sanogo
It is precisely this family and professional bond that places the former French international at the center of attention. According to the statements of his counsel, Me Carole-Olivia Montenot, this grievance has no direct connection with the transfer market or professional football as such. The lawyer argues that it would be an administrative dispute surrounding the drafting of supporting documents linked to a transfer of private funds between the player and his uncle.
According to information from The Team taken from legal sources, the arrangements used by FC Nantes during several transfers – notably those of Emiliano Sala, Guillaume Gillet, Alban Lafont and even Lucas Evangelista – would be in “total contradiction” with the Sports Code. Justice suspects illegal exercise of the profession of agent as well as acts of money laundering.
At the center of the case, agent Joaquim Batica is suspected of having served as a nominee for Bakari Sanogo. Between 2015 and 2021, FC Nantes would have paid 8.2 million euros to the latter through Joaquim Batica. Investigators also believe that certain “exceptional bonuses” granted to players were in reality used to clandestinely remunerate Bakari Sanogo.
In addition to Moussa Sissoko, several major players in the case are currently under indictment: FC Nantes as a legal entity, Franck Kita, general director of the club, Bakari Sanogo as well as his partner, Sylvie B and Joaquim Batica. The qualifications retained by the judges are particularly heavy: illegal exercise of sports agent, forgery and use of forgery, misuse of company assets, laundering of aggravated tax fraud and organized gang laundering.
