FRENCH NATIONAL football manager Laurent Blanc has been cleared of wrongdoing by the sports ministry’s inquiry into alleged plans to impose quotas for black and Arab players in the country’s youth academies.

Sports minister Chantal Jouanno said comments were made at a meeting of the French Football Federation (FFF) last November which “bordered on racism” but that the idea of introducing quotas was eventually ruled out.

Blanc was “not the instigator” of the debate and there was “nothing to suggest that he supports discriminatory practices”. According to transcripts of internal conversations published by the website Mediapart, senior officials at the federation, including Blanc, discussed limiting the number of black and Arab players in youth training programmes.

Blanc said he was “outraged” by the allegations of racism and insisted the meetings were about finding ways to avoid players with dual nationality declaring for other countries after being brought through France’s elite training centres.

Mediapart alleged Blanc backed the idea of a change in youth selection criteria to favour players with “our culture, our history”. The transcript quoted Blanc saying: “The Spanish, they say: ‘We don’t have a problem. We have no blacks’.” Supporting the manager’s stance, Jouanno said: “Laurent Blanc was attending this kind of meeting for the very first time. He did not have any plan (to limit the number of black and Arab players), no fixed opinion.” Jouanno said her ministry’s inquiry concluded there was not enough evidence to begin judicial proceedings on grounds of discrimination. The justice ministry was of the same opinion.

“The introduction of quotas was indeed raised during the meeting of November 8th in a way that was both clumsy and inappropriate,” she said. “A quite unpleasant general impression emerges from this affair, with comments that border on racism. There is a real problem at the root of this, but the response that was suggested – imposing quotas – is illegal, inconceivable and contrary to the values of the sport. However, the introduction of quotas was ruled out. It’s unfair to say that the federation wanted to limit the number of blacks and Arabs.”

FFF technical director François Blaquart, who used the word “quotas” in the November meeting, was provisionally suspended last week pending the results of the inquiry and a separate investigation by the federation.

Ms Jouanno said she did not have the authority to sanction the technical director, but would ask the FFF to launch an audit into Blaquart’s responsibilities. “There was not a racist or discriminatory philosophy at the head of the technical committee,” the minister said. “The comments made by the national technical director during the November 8th meeting were nevertheless regrettable.”

The quota controversy has shook French football and set former team-mates from the 1998 World Cup-winning side against one another. Former captain Patrick Vieira suggested last week that Blanc’s position was becoming untenable, while Lilian Thuram, another of Blanc’s former team-mates, said the affair was “a real scandal”.

The manager received public support from Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Christophe Dugarry and Bixente Lizarazu, however. “I’m very sad for Laurent, what’s happening to him,” Deschamps said. “Laurent Blanc is there and I hope that he’ll stay as long as possible.”

Blaquart last week tried to defend Blanc by saying the manager may not have heard him use the word “quota” at the November meeting. “I could understand, as it was only used once – in an extremely clumsy manner, I admit – if Laurent didn’t hear it,” said Blaquart.

“It was a very, very passionate discussion that only lasted 20 minutes during a meeting of three hours.” He added: “I’m not proud and I even feel great shame to see these terms come out and get attached to my name, to Laurent’s name and to the names of the others involved, of course.”

Mohamed Belkacemi, the FFF’s chief community officer, admitted to taping the meeting but said he had passed the recording on to senior members of the organisation, and not to the media.

The inquiry found Belkacemi’s aim was not to destabilise the FFF and that he did not leak the recording to the media. Jouanno said he should remain in his post but suggested he be reminded not to record meetings.