Ahead of her time in the early 2000s when she became the first French player to go into exile and succeed in the United States, Marinette Pichon does not understand why the French Federation (FFF) is taking so long to accelerate the professionalization of its current players in D1 Arkema.
“It’s revolting, it annoys me. I wonder what the Federation is doing to help the development of women’s football and how we can have fallen so far behind England and Spain, who had late championships but managed to fill Wembley and the Camp Nou. It is still sad to make this observation, explained the ex-attacker (47 years old), this Monday on RTL, as part of the promotion of the biopic entitled “Marinette”, which retraces her life and whose cinema release is scheduled for June 7.
“It’s clearly a lack of desire to make things happen”
Marinette Pichon, former French international (112 caps, 81 goals)
“It’s clearly a lack of desire to make things happen. What has changed apart from the media impact of the last two major events, the 2019 World Cup and Euro 2022? Nothing ! The players are still under federal contract, with a professional part and a sports part, apart from the three (clubs) whose presidents have the financial means to give them, she regretted, in reference to OL, PSG and Montpellier, the engines of the D1 Arkema. Apart from that, we have no structure to welcome our young people, no more educators or volunteers. I am appalled that a federation does not take the measure of all these young women who are waiting to have the ability to access infrastructure so that they too can have fun. It is the Federation which is the decision-making body and must drive these changes. »
According article 2.1 of the status of the federal player, according to the texts of the FFF, “a federal player is a sportswoman who makes available to a football club referred to in article 1 of these Statutes, against remuneration, her skills and physical potential in order to participate in competitions. The federal player is an employee working in the football sector. The federal player is a federal football professional by the salary nature of her activity and not by the status of her club. »
What the difference of a professional player, according to the texts of the International Federation (FIFA)which attributes this status to “any player (or player) having a written contract with a club receiving, for its football activity, a remuneration higher than the amount of the actual costs that it incurs”.