As the elections at the head of the French Football Federation approach in mid-December, its president Philippe Diallo spoke during an interview for Ouest-France on the rich news of French football, between the tifo affair deployed by the Collectif Ultra Paris (CUP) in support of Palestine, the France-Israel match or the absence of Kylian Mbappé in Didier Deschamps‘ latest list.
If he “does not blame the PSG” after the deployment by the CUP of the “Free Palestine” tifo, Philippe Diallo believes that it “had no place, particularly given the current geopolitical context and the approach of the match between France and Israel. A tifo for which the president of the FFF had been summoned to the Ministry of the Interior, a few days before the reception of Israel at the Stade de France on behalf of the League of Nations.
France-Israel must be “a normal match”
On this subject, Philippe Diallo remains firm in his position: this match must be played, and in front of the public. “It’s a football match and it must remain that way. I have never studied another option”, he assures while ensuring that he wants to “avoid events similar to those which took place [aux] The Netherlands “. However, there is no question of banning Israeli supporters from accessing the Stade de France next Thursday. “We want France-Israel to be a normal match, with the necessary security conditions,” he insists.
A meeting in which the captain of the France team Kylian Mbappé will not participate, the Madrilenian being absent from Didier Deschamps’ latest list unveiled on Thursday. “As always, I support the coach’s decisions,” reacts the president of the 3F. “There is no aspect of sanction. Kylian has brought a lot to the Blues. He will do it again. Currently, he is in a more delicate period,” he continues without wanting to say more than what Didier Deschamps responded to the press when explaining the absence of number 9 from Real Madrid.
“Not a word of reproach” for Mbappé
And added: “Kylian retains all my confidence and I must support him”, ensuring that he must remain captain of the France team. “I can affirm his love for the Blue and the Federation. (…) I don’t have a word of reproach to express to him.”
Concerning the low audiences for Les Bleus matches recently, Philippe Diallo assures that there “is no” disenchantment from the French public towards his national team. “The French team remains extremely attractive,” assures the man who is representing himself at the head of the federation. “ [Ma liste] will represent all territories and respect total parity, including in executive functions,” he announced before the first round of the election, on December 10 and 11.
