This Thursday, at the end of the executive committee, the French Federation presented its action plan for the future of women’s football in France. Philippe Diallo, the interim president, spoke of the “upheavals” of recent months but welcomed the appointment of Hervé Renard, head of Les Bleues, stressing that he had “already given a face, a smile and results “.
To improve the professionalization of women’s football, he highlighted an unprecedented financial effort by the FFF for women’s football “in the order of 20 to 25%, or an additional 4 to 5 M€”.
Jean-Michel Aulas, member of the Comex and president of OL, spoke of a triple ambition: “global”, with the French team, “European” for the clubs and finally “national” to allow D1 Arkema to “regain legitimacy through audiences, attendance and brand image”.
A Professional League will thus be created. It will take place within the FFF and not independently unlike the boys. It will be effective on July 1, 2024. A play-off will be organized next season in D1, for the title of champion and qualifications in the Champions League. A single D2 pool will be set up with 12 clubs and, finally, two pools of twelve in the third division. The training centers will be able to evolve into D3.
A new schedule is in place. A Champions Trophy will take place on September 10, in Troyes. The season will start on September 16 and 17. The final of the Coupe de France will take place on Saturday 24 and, on Sunday, May 12, place for the semi-finals of the play-offs, the final and the small final will take place on May 18 and 19.
Aulas acknowledged that in terms of TV broadcasting “we haven’t always been perfect in the past”. The clubs will therefore have obligations in terms of lighting, quality of lawns, platforms for cameras, covered stands, as well as in terms of access to changing rooms or to players.
Calls for tenders are launched for the French team and the clubs for the period 2023-2027. For Les Bleues, they will concern 10 to 14 matches per season with the qualifying matches for Euro 2025 and the 2027 World Cup with also friendly matches for Olympic Games, and the new UEFA Nations League which starts in September. With an obligation to broadcast matches in clear.
For D1 Arkema, the schedule is the same with 4 weeks for the return of offers. We note in particular an obligation to broadcast ten matches in clear per season.