The Federation has decided: exit Corinne Deacon. The coach, weakened by the mutiny of her captain Wendie Renard, was thanked this Thursday morning by the executive committee of the FFF, after almost six years at the head of the French women’s football team. A premature end of contract, which comes four and a half months before the Women’s World Cup, which is to be held from July 20, in the midst of a crisis within the team.
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 “no longer endorse the current system” too far, according to her, from the top level.
Iconic players who slam the door
Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani, stars of Les Bleues and PSG, engaged and tackled the “lack of professionalism” of the tricolor coaching, 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, the girls simply can’t take it anymore”, even if “they don’t necessarily express themselves”, explained Kadidiatou Diani in the Téléfoot program on Sunday. “The French Federation must take steps, we have raised a cry of alarm. »
A new controversy after the Le Graët case
The case of Deacon has made its way onto the agenda of the Federation’s “Comex”, barely recovered from the turbulence surrounding its ex-president Noël Le Graët. The latter invited himself to Comex to greet its members at the end of the meeting. He arrived at Boulevard de Grenelle around 9:40 a.m. in a black sedan, without saying a word. The fate of general manager Florence Hardouin, laid off since January, was also to be on the menu of discussions.
Silent at the height of the storm, Deacon finally stepped up to the plate on Wednesday, through a press release in which she said she “endured, not without feeling great suffering, the display of slander, untruths and ambitions of some and others”.
The 48-year-old former captain and defender of Les Bleues was under contract until the summer of 2024. Despite the “shameful media outburst of recent days”, she said, “I am fully determined to lead my mission to do well and, above all, to honor France at the next World Cup” this summer in Australia and New Zealand (July 20-August 20). The FFF finally decided that Corinne Deacon would not be part of the trip.