Frédéric Thiriez has finally confirmed what has been whispered for several weeks: he will run for the presidency of the French Football Federation (FFF), during the election scheduled for March 13, 2021.
After an unofficial campaign this fall with influential actors, the former boss of the Professional Football League (LFP, 2002-2016) registered his candidacy. Official announcement made, Tuesday, December 15, in a long interview with The team, to convince the “big voters” representative of professional clubs (37% of voters) and amateur football (63%).
This speech comes as the outgoing president of the FFF, Noël Le Graët, soon 79 years old, planned to wait until mid-January to say whether or not he would seek the votes of the federal assembly for a fourth term. of four years.
At 68 years old, Mr. Thiriez is keen to occupy the land. In a framework document including The world has taken note, the lawyer at the Council of State and the Court of Cassation sets out an ambitious promise.
Even if a mandate lasts only four years, the candidate Thiriez is committed to doubling the number of licensees within… ten years. He intends to bring the FFF up to “4 million licensees”. Including a million female licenses, he says, five times more than today. “French football has no reason to limit its ambitions, on the wrong pretext that there is a lack of land in cities and of educators in rural areas. “
“Participatory program”
The FFF is the most powerful sports organization in the country (2.2 million licenses in 2019), despite the prospect of a drop in the number of licenses due to Covid-19. In this health context, the former representative of professional football proclaims his intention to develop “A real rescue plan for amateur football”.
In terms of governance, he wishes to stand out from the outgoing president. “Gone are the days when things were decided from above in an authoritarian and vertical manner”, is it written. Without considering, in his document, a limit on the number of successive terms of office as president of the FFF, or a ceiling age.
The lawyer intends to present, at the end of January 2021, “A participatory program” from “From the field”. At the institutional level, he proposes to create “A council of wise men made up of former internationals”, to the FFF executive committee. He can already count on the support of the former defender of the Blues Basile Boli… and perhaps hopes to rally to his cause Luis Fernandez, who had expressed the desire for an alternative to Mr. Le Graët.
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