Just four months before the Women’s World Cup, the coach of the French national football team has been fired. Several of the key players on the national team had revolted against Corinne Diacre.
Corinne Diacre will no longer serve as the head coach of France’s national team, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced on Thursday.
The FFF praised Diacre’s “involvement and seriousness” in a press release, but claimed that a four-member committee that had been formed to examine how the women’s national team is run had “unanimously” recommended firing the coach.
“The numerous hearings conducted have made it possible to establish a very important gap with some top players,” it said. “This gap has reached a point of no return that damages the team’s interests.”
Player resignations
The move wasn’t completely unexpected, as Diacre had been under growing pressure since captain Wendie Renard announced her resignation from the national team last month.
“I can no longer support the current system which falls a long way short of the demands required to compete at the highest level,” Renard said.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Kadidiatou Diani, the top scorer in the French league, who like Renard was nominated for last year’s Ballon d’Or, also quit, along with her PSG teammate Marie-Antoinette Katoto.
The federation said interim President Philippe Diallo had asked a committee to speak to potential candidates to replace Diacre as head coach “as soon as possible.”
Le COMEX de la FFF a reçu les conclusions de la commission missionnée par Philippe Diallo pour dresser un constat sur la situation de l’Équipe de France Féminine.
— FFF (@FFF) March 9, 2023
Il a été décidé de mettre un terme à la mission de Corinne Diacre en @equipedefranceF https://t.co/zBeJK4ra8b
Adding to the FFF’s crisis
The move could hardly have come at a more inopportune time, with France set to compete in the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in July and August.
The French federation was already in crisis following the resignation of its scandal-hit 81-year-old president, Noel Le Graet, last week.
Diacre, who took charge of the French national team in 2017 and was under contract until August 2024, said on Wednesday that she had become the victim of a smear campaign.
Under Diacre, France, as hosts, lost to the United States in the quarterfinals at the last World Cup in 2019. Les Bleues then lost to Germany in the semifinals of last year’s Euros in England.
Diacre, who as a player made 121 appearances for the national team, previously coached second-division outfit Clermont — making her the first woman to coach a men’s team in a competitive match in France.