Corinne Deacon in the hot seat
The FFF seized this Thursday of the thorny file of the coach weakened by the mutiny of its captain Wendie Renard but “fully determined” to lead his troops in four and a half months at the World Cup.
The members of the FFF’s executive committee are expected from 9:30 a.m. at the headquarters of the Federation, boulevard de Grenelle, in Paris, to skim a particularly extensive agenda: federal governance, finances and, at the top of the pile, THE chaos at the Blues.
The crisis, long underground, burst into the open on February 24 with the announcement by Wendie Renard (142 selections) of her withdrawal from the France team, explaining that she could not “no longer condone the current system“Too far, according to her, from the high level.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani, stars of Les Bleues and Paris SG, engaged and tackled the “lack of professionalism” of the tricolor frame, without naming the coach directly. The Lyonnaises Griedge Mbock (injured) and Perle Morroni (not selected) also joined the sling.
“It’s important to have something new, girls just can’t take it anymore“, even if “they do not necessarily express themselves“, explained Diani on Téléfoot. “The French Federation must take steps, we have raised a cry of alarm.»
“Untruths”
Corinne Deacon
The case of Deacon therefore invites itself to the agenda of the “comexof the Federation, barely recovered from the turbulence surrounding its ex-president Noël Le Graët. The fate of general manager Florence Hardouin, laid off since January, will also be on the menu for discussion.
Silent at the height of the storm, Deacon finally stepped up to the plate on Wednesday, through a press release to AFP where she said she had “endured, not without feeling great suffering, the display of calumnies, untruths and ambitions of each other“.
The former captain and defender of the Bleues (48), under contract until the summer of 2024, counter-attacked when her position appeared more weakened than ever. In recent days, all the federal sources questioned were unanimously betting on his ouster.
Despite the “shameful media outburst of recent days“, she said, “I am fully determined to carry out my mission and, above all, to bring honor to France at the next World Cupthis summer in Australia and New Zealand (July 20-August 20).
Aulas in the center
Anxious to tackle the problem head-on, the FFF has set up a special commission to “take stock of the current situation» in the French team, with on board Jean-Michel Aulas, Laura Georges, Aline Riera and Marc Keller, all members of the «comex“.
The quartet auditioned several players. Some “jailhouses“On the other hand, declined and others were not asked, we learned from those around them.
Deacon herself was able to speak for nearly two hours on Tuesday, according to her lawyer Christophe Ayela, who described to AFP an exchange “constructive and concrete“allowing the technician to come out”relieved and determined“.
The hypothesis of a dismissal of Deacon, in office since 2017, would force the FFF to find a successor within tight deadlines. The next game of Les Bleues, against Colombia in a friendly, takes place in barely a month in Clermont.
The name of Gérard Prêcheur, current coach of the women’s PSG, comes up insistently. In recent hours, the former INF Clairefontaine trainer and ex-coach of OL women (2014-2017) however assured that he had not been contacted by the FFF.
Other profiles stand out, such as those of Sonia Bompastor (Lyon), Sandrine Soubeyrand (Paris FC) and Eric Blahic (ex-deacon of Deacon). But the Federation could temporize on this subject and not take an immediate decision.
