Former Paris-Saint Germain women’s head coach Didier Olle-Nicolle has been cleared of any charges of sexual assault after the French courts dismissed the case.
The complaint lodged by former PSG and now Lyon striker Kadidiatou Diani has also been dismissed by the public prosecutor of Versailles for failing to constitute an offence.
Diani filed the complaint in June 2023 and referred to two incidents that took place in August 2021. Diani was coached by Olle-Nicolle during the 2021-22 season while she was at PSG.
Le Parisien reported that Diani, 28, alleged that on August 19, 2021, the 63-year-old touched several of her teammates’ including Diani’s backsides with a miniature baseball bat while the team boarded the team bus. She also alleged that in August 2021, at halftime of a friendly match in Toulouse, Olle-Nicolle put a hand on Diani’s bottom as the Parisian team were about to leave the team dressing room.
“Didier Olle-Nicoole, who from the outset of this case denounced the false nature of the accusations made against him and the way in which they were used, is delighted with these two decisions, which completely exonerate him after many months of investigation,” a statement read from his lawyer Guillaume Traynard.
“He had successively lodged two complaints with the public prosecutor in Versailles for slanderous denunciation so that light could be shed on the exact conditions that led to the false accusations against him being passed on to his employer and to the courts.”
Kadidiatou Diani now plays for Lyon (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
Olle-Nicolle was suspended by PSG in May 2022 after some of the club’s players were allegedly exposed to “inappropriate actions and comments”. This follows an alleged incident that took place during a U.S. tour in August 2021 where the Frenchman is alleged to have put his hand on an underage player’s bottom before she went onto the pitch.
PSG also launched a formal investigation and released a statement on July 31 2022 which said the club and Olle-Nicolle had “decided to end their collaboration by mutual agreement”. “Paris Saint-Germain specifies that, following the internal investigation carried out on May 24, no fault or misconduct has been found against him,” the club said.
“Didier Olle-Nicolle now intends to have his honour restored in line with the considerable damage he has suffered,” added his lawyer.
Olle-Nicolle is also a civil party in the investigation proceedings that led to the charge of Cesar Mavacala, not a registered agent but partner of Kadidiatou Diani and former advisor of Aminata Diallo and Marie-Antoinette Katoto, for organised gang fraud, another criminal case which is related to the “Hamraoui and Diallo case” in which former PSG player Kheira Hamraoui was beaten with an iron bar. Mavacala has denied the charge.
In September 2022, Hamraoui’s then team-mate Diallo was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy in relation to the attack. She maintains her innocence.
(Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images)
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