Romain Molina

Romain Molina, born May 3, 1991 in Oz-en-Oisans, France, is a French independent investigative journalist who lives in Spain.Florent Malice, Interview Entretien avec Romain Molina : "Le monde du football est profondément pervers", Walfoot, 12 January 2021. He is known for his books on association football and for his work uncovering and exposing scandals in the world of football, and for implicating figures in national federations and in FIFA.
==Investigations==
===Haitian Football Federation scandal===
Molina is a co-author of an investigation in The Guardian revealing sexual violence and rape against girls by Yves Jean-Bart, then president of the Haitian Football Federation (FHF).https://web.archive.org/web/20200924022933/https://sport.francetvinfo.fr/football/haiti-enquete-ouverte-contre-le-president-de-la-federation-de-foot-accuse-de-viols
During an interview with Denis Robert in the French news program Blast, Molina explained that football in Haiti had been run as a cartel by Jean-Bart for over twenty years. After this subject became known in Haiti, Molina received extensive information about embezzlement (particularly related to a drug cartel called 'La Familia') as well as on sexual abuse and pedophilia at the headquarters of the FHF, in Croix-des-Bouquets, the former property of Jean-Claude Duvalier which was transformed into a football training centre in 2001. Molina then warned FIFA without naming names, and on May 25, 2020, Jean-Bart was suspended by FIFA for 90 days, and then another 90 after that. Six months later, FIFA's internal investigation concluded that Jean-Bart had breached articles 23 and 25 of FIFA's Code of Ethics and was banned for life and fined CHF 1,000,000.
===Investigations into the French Football Federation===
On October 14, 2020, the New York Times published a report coauthored by Molina which revealed a "toxic workplace culture" in the French Football Federation (FFF). It called into question the leadership of Director General Florence Hardouin, and revealed accusations of harassment, inappropriate behaviour, and sexism at the FFF.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20221010065945/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/14/sports/soccer/france-soccer-federation-investigation.html
Le 2 décembre, une seconde enquête de Romain Molina sur la FFF est publiée par le New York Times concernant un ancien encadrant de l'institut national du football de Clairefontaine renvoyé par fédération, ayant envoyé des SMS inappropriés, voulu des pesées sans vêtements ou encore invité des enfants à passer la nuit chez lui, et continuant toujours de travailler dans le milieu27.
On December 2, the New York Times published another report by Molina concerning a former manager of the academy at Clairefontaine who had been dismissed by the federation. he had sent inappropriate text messages to minors, performed nude weigh-ins, and invited children to spend the night with him, while working there. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/sports/soccer/france-soccer-abuse.html
In November 2021, Molina revealed on Twitter that there were more cases of sexual violence, inappropriate behaviour, and drunkenness at the FFF.
On September 16 2022, Molina published a report titled "40 years of silence" in the Norwegian sports news website Josimar, showing how the FFF had covered up allegations of sexual abuse against minors. 
===Investigation into the Gabonese Football Federation===
FIFA launched an investigation and prosecution against four football trainers in Gabon, including the coach of the Gabon national under-17 football team, Patrick Assoumou Eyi, according to a report coauthored by Molina from The Guardian. Eyi, often referred to as "Capello", is suspected of having committed numerous sexual assaults on young players since 1990. 
===Blackmail and harassment scandal at Africa Sports===
On February 28, 2022, Molina published a report concerning a blackmail and sexual harassment scandal by a coach of the female squad at Africa Sports d'Abidjan, against minors. The coach was sacked in March.
===Sexual abuse scandal at the Colombian Football Federation===
Molina authored and coauthored reports about abuse in the Colombian Football Federation, which led the FIFA Ethics Committee to launch an investigation.
* Head referee Óscar Julián Ruiz was accused of abusing 11 victims and suspected of abusing over 30 more. He denied these accusations. A 2019 investigation by Colombian authorities into allegations of raping a minor and sexually harassing three referees was "archived" by a judge who said there was not enough proof. On March 7, 2022, another plaintiff was deposed who accused Ruiz of abusing and sexually harassing other referees, who were required to be subjected to said abuse in order to receive a promotion. The accusers stated that Ruiz sexually harassed several people during the course of their careers, and that he had sexual relations with a referee who was under 13 at the time.
* Referee Imer Machado was accused of sexual harassment against 14 victims and suspected victims. 
==Personal life==
Molina lives in Andalusia. He plays semi-professional basketball, and operates a YouTube channel about sports.
In 2019, Molina participated in a trip to North Korea that was organised by Equality and Reconciliation, a "leftist nationalist" group that has also been described as far-right, with the aim of filming a documentary there. The documentary was never released.
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Category:1991 births
Category:French journalists
Category:French sports journalists
Category:French investigative journalists