Another tense episode has emerged at PSG’s academy. According to L’Équipe, Paulo Gonçalves, a club scout and member of the Social and Economic Committee (CSE), is now the subject of dismissal proceedings for serious misconduct. The case is particularly sensitive because Gonçalves was behind reports that led to an investigation involving Yohan Cabaye last season.
Tensions appear to be continuing at the PSG Campus. According to L’Équipe, the Parisian club has launched disciplinary proceedings against Gonçalves, a scout within its academy. A preliminary meeting has reportedly already taken place and the CSE has been informed. As Gonçalves is himself a CSE member, he has protected employee status, meaning any dismissal must follow a specific legal procedure involving the French labour inspectorate.
Aggressive behaviour allegedly identified
PSG had commissioned an external firm to investigate several reports concerning working conditions. According to L’Équipe, the investigation allegedly identified behaviour by Gonçalves towards certain colleagues that was considered aggressive or inappropriate. These findings prompted the club to begin the current disciplinary process. PSG says it handles reports concerning working conditions rigorously and impartially and takes action when it considers the findings sufficiently serious. The club does not wish to comment further on the ongoing individual case.
The situation is even more sensitive because Gonçalves played a role in the events that shook PSG’s academy last season. His reports contributed to the launch of an internal investigation involving Yohan Cabaye, the academy’s sporting director. Several employees were interviewed amid complaints about management and the well-being of certain staff members, while the labour inspectorate also visited the PSG Campus. The investigation ultimately resulted in Cabaye receiving a warning, while he remained in his position.
Gonçalves’ representatives now believe his role in those earlier reports may have influenced the proceedings against him, although this remains their interpretation and PSG denies any link between the two cases. The situation comes amid wider changes within the academy’s recruitment department, with L’Équipe reporting in late August that Omar Allel had left for Paris FC and that Gonçalves had been on sick leave for several months. The current proceedings do not yet mean that his dismissal has been confirmed: because of his protected employee status, several legal steps must still be completed before any termination of his contract can take effect.
