Joël and Éric Cantona, who claim to have popularized “beach soccer” in France since the end of the 1990s, are in conflict with the French Football Federation (FFF), Tuesday before the judicial court of Paris.
At 3 p.m., a summary hearing will take place before this body to determine whether the company “Joël Cantona organization” (JCO) can use documents that it had seized at the Paris headquarters of “3F”, with a view to a request for compensation.
Indeed, Joël Cantona considers himself “betrayed” and wronged by the attribution to another company of the organization of the 2023 to 2025 editions of the “FFF Tour”, a summer event promoting “beach soccer” in France that JCO had organized during the previous 16 years, indicated Me Céline Bekerman, his lawyer.
“No comment” from the FFF
“Joël and Éric Cantona believe that they invented beach soccer in France, that it is their baby and that it should not be the subject of a call for tenders,” she added. The two brothers organized the “Beach soccer pro tour” in France from 1999 and contributed to the French team’s world title in this sport in 2005, the date on which the FFF contacted them for a partnership.
The federation, in a “sneaky” and “opaque” way, preferred the offer from the company “Atelier 58” which was even more expensive, said Me Bekerman. “After 16 years of partnership from 2006 to 2022, (the federation) treated them like nothing,” according to the lawyer. “It’s as if they came with the script and finally we changed the director.”
Me Bekerman hopes to obtain compensation from the FFF, after having considered obtaining that two years of the previous contract, canceled due to the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, be executed in 2023 and 2024. Requested by the AFP, the FFF does not wished “not to comment on an ongoing procedure”.
