Before even looking at the list of players available for the Paris Olympics (July 24-August 11), the French Football Federation is making strides on the base camp allocated during the first round of the tournament to the team led since August 2023 by Thierry Henry. According to our information, the choice of the body should fall on the Mercure Aix-en-Provence Sainte Victoire hotel (the Accor group is a premium partner of Paris 2024).
This 4-star establishment located in Châteauneuf le Rouge, 15 minutes from the city of Aix, should be validated this Friday during the FFF Comex on the eve of the general assembly scheduled for this Saturday, December 16. Nestled at the foot of the Sainte Victoire mountain, immortalized by nearly 80 works by the painter Paul Cézanne, the hotel, equipped with a swimming pool, has 61 rooms, 29 of which are located in a completely renovated historic building. The tricolors will benefit from all the modern comforts in a sanitized atmosphere where six centuries old stone reigns supreme.
The French Olympic team will gather around mid-June in Clairefontaine and will stay there for a fortnight. The Bleuets will then likely head to the Basque Country for an internship during the first week of July, with a friendly match scheduled at the Jean-Dauger stadium in Bayonne. From there, they will reach their base camp in Provence.
For the record, the France team will play two of its first round matches in Marseille on July 24 and 30, a city 35 kilometers away, and another in Nice, on July 27, 160 km away. It will probably benefit from the facilities of the Gardi stadium in the town of Trets. This sports complex, renovated in recent years, is located just 15 minutes from the Mercure hotel. If France qualifies for the quarter-finals, set for Bordeaux or Paris on August 2 depending on its ranking, different options remain, for the moment, possible, one leading to a return to Clairefontaine.
The Mercure Aix en Provence Sainte Victoire hotel should host the French Olympic football team.
In the coming days, Philippe Diallo, the president of the FFF, has also planned to meet with presidents of French clubs. On October 27 in an interview with our newspaper, he assured in particular that he already had agreements in principle from some of them ready to release their players for the Olympics.
The French women’s team based in Lyon?
In recent months, Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann have also shown their desire to participate in the football tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. An event for which the selections are entitled to three players over 23 years old. But as it does not enter into the Fifa dates, the clubs are not obliged to release their players.
On this subject, Diallo had confided. “Because these are the Olympic Games in France, which take place once a century in our country, it is our duty, at the FFF, to do everything possible to have the best possible players. We started to tackle it with the support of French professional football. The presidents are or will be convinced that they are participating in a mission of general interest to support our national selection and ensure that it obtains at least one medal (…) I received messages from presidents who told me : ” You can count on us. »
Furthermore, Hervé Renard’s French women’s team should take up residence in Lyon and train at Tola Vologe on the former OL facilities. The Bleues play two matches in the first round on July 25 and 31 and the 3rd in Saint-Étienne on July 28.
