Serial business, end of championships, financial losses, clubs in difficulty … 2020 will have been a black year for French football.
At the beginning of January, no one could think for a second that the year 2020 would be so rotten for French football. If the Covid-19 pandemic precipitated the end of the amateur and professional championships, the French Football Federation had to face internal turmoil and heavy financial losses with the matches of the France team behind closed doors and then the fall of Médiapro. Not to mention the lack of social bond that all clubs know during periods of confinement.
Competitions at a standstill, a first!
Even in times of war, the championships had never been stopped. The year 2020 will therefore remain as a great first in the history of the FFF since its creation in 1919. And the federal body had to find solutions. The Comex of April 16 will indeed have spilled much ink with in particular the application of the quotient to decide between the clubs which did not have the same number of games played.
The maintenance of the climbs and descents in the national championships had also been criticized because some clubs felt that they had not been able to play their luck to the end while they were still in the race for accession or relegation. The decision for the regional and departmental championships had led the Leagues and Districts to increase – in most cases – the number of clubs per pool, a real puzzle.
Internal turmoil at the FFF
Last January, the daily L’Equipe headlined “Noël Le Graët, president of the FFF, and Florence Hardouin, general manager, the masters of the game”. Maybe a little too much? Thirteen directors out of the seventeen in the FFF had indeed denounced “A heavy climate” or “A deleterious atmosphere” in a letter sent to the president of the federal body. “Florence is divisive because she is not in the cronyism or in the emotional, she wants to move projects forward that’s all he interests her” Nathalie Boy de la Tour, the former president of the Professional Football League, reacted in particular.
But nothing got better in 2020. The tension remained palpable between the general manager and some directors. But she also had altercations with several members of the Executive Committee of the FFF for whom “She lacks consideration”, according to an internal source who told us that the ex-fencer “Didn’t know anything about football”. Atmosphere! If Florence Hardouin does not seem threatened for the moment, this may not be the case next March after the FFF elections.
In any case, these turmoils do not leave indifferent in the decentralized bodies. “In the spring, we never saw Florence Hardouin in the videoconferences organized following the end of the competitions or on the discussions concerning the solidarity fund” entrusted us with a League president. The rupture therefore seems deep in 2020, this black year for French football.
Heavy financial losses
For the past few weeks, the Leagues and Districts have been holding their ordinary and elective general assemblies. With in particular financial losses over the 2019-2020 season for a large majority, due in particular to the solidarity fund. For the FFF, we will have to wait until March since the federal assembly scheduled for December 12 has been postponed. But the financial losses are significant. “Since July 1, we are at approximately minus 24 million, said Florence Hardouin in November. I don’t think it will increase with the Covid because there is the hope of having stadiums that will fill up in March. “
The last five games of the France team were played behind closed doors, so without any revenue, while the fall of Médiapro will deprive the FFF and amateur football of several million euros. The guaranteed minimum is 14 million euros but it will now be impossible to reach the 31 million euros budgeted for 2020-2021. Hence the problem encountered by the federal body of setting up a provisional budget … for the moment.
Cases of sexual assault
In the fall, the New York Times and L’Equipe revealed cases of sexual assault that allegedly took place in Clairefontaine. An educator and an educator have been implicated in two different cases for facts dating back to the past ten years. The two people involved were also still stationed in clubs last season. This convinced the Ministry of Sports to react.
“The administrative investigation will be conducted in the department in which he officiates (Drôme) and consists of studying his background, his qualifications and whether checks have been made., explained the spokesperson of the ministry to The team. The administrative inquiry aims to answer the questions raised by this case. “ And in particular on the lack of questioning of the FFF when these facts were denounced by the victims. A preliminary investigation for “Sexual assault on a minor” led by the prosecution of Privas (Ardèche) is also in progress.
In conclusion, 2020 has been a dark year for French football at all levels. And we must think of the thousands of amateur clubs which have only been operating intermittently since March with a social bond that has been broken, licensees in decline or even unwelcome constraints (locker rooms, refreshments). It remains to be hoped that 2021 will allow the round ball to roll again without obstacles!
