Promoted French Ligue 1 club Troyes announced on Friday that it has sacked sporting director Jocelyn Blanchard "with immediate effect" amid an investigation into allegations of sexist behaviour.

"Esperance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne and sporting director Jocelyn Blanchard have ended their partnership, effective immediately," the club said in a statement.

"ESTAC will focus on ensuring the continuity of its sporting project and will soon begin the process of recruiting a new sporting director."

The announcement came just hours after the publication of an article in a local newspaper L'Est Eclair revealing that the public prosecutor's office in Troyes, a city south-east of Paris, had opened a judicial investigation into the 54-year-old former footballer.

Contacted by AFP, the Troyes public prosecutor's office did not respond on Friday.

Blanchard had been under scrutiny since early October when the L'Est Eclair revealed that an internal investigation was underway in the club.

According to the report, several female employees at the club reportedly filed complaints accusing Blanchard of inappropriate conduct and sexist remarks.

The investigation is being conducted by the City Football Group, a holding company which owns 12 clubs including Premier League giants Manchester City, of which Troyes is a member.

Despite the internal investigation, Blanchard was present before last Sunday's 2-0 Ligue 1 defeat to Marseille.

Speaking on the sidelines of that match, club president Edwin Pindi said "Troyes currently has all the necessary tools at its disposal to shed light on what is happening which is exactly what we have been striving to do over the past few weeks and will continue to do in the coming days".

Blanchard joined the club over the summer, having previously worked with Pindi at Dunkerque, where he was sporting director from 2020 to 2023.

Before that Blanchard also had two spells as sporting director at Lens between 2011 and 2017.

During his playing career the midfielder had stints with clubs including Metz, Juventus and Austria Vienna.

Relegated from Ligue 1 in 2022-23, Troyes returned to the top flight this season and are 17th in the league with one win from six games.

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