Post by Joëlle Monlouis, originally published on LinkedIn on 31 August 2026. Translated from the original text.
“How do you continue practising as a lawyer while serving as Secretary General of the FFF?” ⚖️⚽
This is probably one of the questions I have been asked most often since becoming General Secretary of the French Football Federation (FFF).
And one I am still asked regularly.
The confusion is understandable: in almost every football federation, the General Secretary is a salaried executive within the administration.
To my knowledge, among FIFA’s 211 member associations, I am currently the only elected General Secretary. If other cases exist, they are in any event extremely rare.
That is therefore not my situation at the FFF.
I was elected to the Executive Committee alongside Philippe DIALLO and the other members of the list. I serve as General Secretary, but I am not an employee of the Federation’s administration.
I can therefore continue to practise in parallel as an international sports lawyer, in compliance with the ethical rules of my profession, to which I am particularly committed, notably as a former member of the Paris Bar Council (Ordre des avocats de Paris).
When I was elected, I actually had to explain this to some of my clients.
Several people had naturally assumed that this new role meant I was ceasing to practise as a lawyer.
Not at all. 😊
I took my professional oath almost twenty years ago, and I remain deeply attached to this profession, its independence, and everything it brings me intellectually and personally.
The two roles are different.
They must remain so.
But each also enriches, in its own way, my understanding of sport, its institutions and the challenges they face.
And since the question comes up regularly, it was probably time to explain it here.
It seems I never do things quite like everyone else… even when, for once, it is not really down to me. 😂
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