By Samindra Kunti
March 3 – French football may be in relatively good shape, with Les Bleus topping their World Cup qualifying group, Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League’s round of 16 and Ligue 1 enjoying more international exposure, but behind the scenes a battle for the French FA’s presidency is raging, with Didier Deschamps having joined the war of words.
The presidential elections at the FFF are a duel between the incumbent president Le Graët and his former right hand Jacques Rousselot, a member of the FFF’s executive committee and boss of French club Nancy since 1994. The candidacies of both David Donadei and Eric Thomas are reckoned to be outsiders in the race for the top job.
Le Graët, 75, has been the FFF’s president since 2011. He first won a reelection in 2012 and is seeking another mandate, much to Rousselot’s dismay, who claims that Le Graët had promised him the presidency.
The French national team coach Didier Deschamps has voiced his preference for Le Graët. “My position is clear: I hope and wish for the re-election of Noel Le Graët,” said Deschamps in an interview with Le Parisien. “Independently of our relationship of great confidence, everything he has accomplished since his arrival in 2011 is very positive.”
“At the sporting level, the French team is the European vice-champion and the youth teams are very performant,” continued Deschamps. “His economic record is equally convincing – as evidenced by the economic benefits of the European Championship, which have, among other things, made it possible to increase the financial support for amateur football. There is also the new contract with Nike, which proves to be very important.”
Deschamps’ opinion is of limited importance in the corridors of power, but his support for Le Graët is telling. Rousselot’s camp has accused Deschamps of forfeiting his neutrality.
At the end of last year the FFF signed a deal with Nike, worth €42 million a year until 2018, with a projected increase to €50 million per annum for the 2018-2026 period. That equals the German FA’s record deal with Adidas. As the head of French football, Le Graët has always focussed on ensuring financial stability.
On the pitch, the French team have regained global respect after the Knysna scandal in 2010. Deschamps’s charges reached the final of Euro 2016 on home soil before succumbing to a goal from Portuguese striker Eder in extra-time. At the 2018 World Cup in Russia the current French team is expected to be among the outsiders.
Le Graët is the favorite to retain his presidency but, in the current French political climate, don’t rule out an upset. The elections will take place during the FFF’s general assembly on March 18.
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