The days of Corinne Deacon at the head of the French women's football team seem numbered. Since the explosion that followed, Friday, February 24, the announcement of the withdrawal of its captain, Wendie Renard, followed by similar decisions by star attackers Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani, the coach of Les Bleues was caught in a maelstrom which it will be difficult for him to resist.
Part of his destiny was played out on Tuesday, February 28 during the executive committee ("comex") of the French Football Federation (FFF). The members of this decision-making body obtained the departure of their president, Noël Le Graët, after twelve years of reign. Once the "Breton Menhir" and its autocratic power have been removed, the Northerner finds herself well isolated without her main public support. Despite the emphatic press release addressed directly to the person concerned and published yesterday by the coaches' union (Unecatef): "You are not alone in this ordeal, the whole brotherhood, with Unecatef, feels bruised. »
Corinne Deacon obtained a reprieve which seems very temporary. The technician's fate has not been officially decided by the comex, which entrusted "to a small working group, made up of Jean-Michel Aulas, Marc Keller, Aline Riera and Laura Georges, the task of examining this issue in depth. question," committee member Eric Borghini said in comments reported by RMC.
A decision could come at the next meeting of the body, on March 9. At Agence France-Presse, the interim president of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, promised "a very short deadline". But the departure of Corinne Deacon remains more than likely. If the trend is confirmed, Mr. Diallo, whose mandate has been extended until June (date of the next general meeting), will have to negotiate the conditions without making too many waves. The coach's contract had been extended for two years after Euro 2022, i.e. until the 2024 Olympic Games. An extension decreed without consultation by Noël Le Graët, now ex-president of the FFF.
"It's a dead end"
As the days went by, the situation became untenable and turned into a dilemma: should we get rid of Corinne Deacon, but create a precedent by giving the impression of having ceded power to the players? Or keep it, but seem insensitive to the demands and the discomfort of the footballers? The executive committee and the interim president did not want to act under media and popular pressure.
"It's a dead end with on one side a legitimate fight of the players but on the other side the danger of empowering them. We have to find a balance between how to put Deacon in the background without it turning into the dictatorship of the players and that they can revolt against any future coach, ”sums up a source familiar with the matter.
At the FFF, some were taken aback by the sling of the Blue, a few days after the end of the Tournoi de France which they won. The first interested party, Corinne Deacon, had not been informed a priori of Wendie Renard's decision. As a result, the reaction statement published Friday evening by the FFF, remained sufficiently vague in its wording: "The FFF wishes to recall that no individuality is above the institution Equipe de France. A position reaffirmed on Tuesday in a new press release in which the FFF "regrets the form of these complaints but will give the substance the necessary attention to find a positive solution, always in the interests of the French team on the eve of two deadlines. major events, the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympic Games in France. »
Influential member of the comex and president of the high-level women's commission of the FFF, the president of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) Jean-Michel Aulas, close to Wendie Renard who has worn the colors of his club since 2006, was in confidence for a few weeks. Some see his paw in the maneuver but in Lyon, we swear that he did everything to ensure that the situation did not escalate and that things were settled behind the scenes.
In an interview with L'Equipe, published on the eve of Tuesday's meeting, Mr. Aulas was in any case clear: "It's a decision of the comex. But that seems to me objectively difficult to fight against. The message delivered by the best French players, who are among the best in the world, the Federation cannot sit on it. This is my feeling and my opinion. »
"Not many people defending her today"
Appointed in 2017 with her international past, her knowledge of women's football and her time on the bench of a men's professional club, Corinne Deacon has always suffered from poor communication.
An internal source at the FFF deciphers what has not worked during the six years spent at the head of the Blue: "She has her share of responsibility in the way in which she did not know how to create her relationship with the general ecosystem. . That is to say, her relationship with the players, the journalists, the Federation, the clubs... She hasn't taken the measure of it enough, so there aren't many people to defend her today. Especially since the results, without being catastrophic, did not allow the French women to break their glass ceiling: quarter-finalists at the 2019 World Cup and semi-finalists for Euro 2022.
President of the women's section of Paris FC, Marie-Christine Terroni is also elected to the FFF and a member of the high-level commission created in January 2022. If she admits to having been "surprised" by the timing of Renard's action and of her teammates, she is understanding with their requests: "Wendie wants women's football to be watched and considered at its fair value," she reacted. To get to know the Federation well, we have worked to develop women's football and we want to continue to do so. When you want excellence, you always want it to go faster. I hear it and I understand it. »
The former leader of the historic Juvisy club hopes that "women's football will grow out of this crisis: "The Professional Women's Football League is coming [planned for next season]. You have to look at what the players ask for to give them the maximum of things to perform. »
Before the comex met, Marie-Christine Terroni did not imagine that Les Bleues could go and play the 2023 World Cup this summer in Australia without her executives. "It's unthinkable for me. We have to find a solution, she pleads, If we want to have a title, yes, they have to come back. Five months from the deadline and while the next rally is scheduled for early April, the authorities of the FFF will have to quickly cut the Gordian knot.
