Football: Philippe Diallo (FFF) wants to “avoid the Tokyo disaster in Paris” and build the most competitive team possible

Philippe Diallo. MAXPPP – Matthieu Mirville

The president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Philippe Diallo explains in an interview with AFP how he intends to build the most competitive team possible for the Paris Olympic Games, of which Kylian could be a part. Mbappé, in order to avoid "disaster" of Tokyo-2021.

What are the objectives that you have set for the two French Olympic teams, men's and women's?

I told Hervé Renard, the women's coach, and Thierry Henry, the boys' coach, that we had to be at least on the podium. It's an ambitious objective because the Games are here and because we are clear-minded about the quality of our teams. France, for several years, has been established in the elite of international football, whether for boys or girls. I saw that Thierry Henry expressed an even greater ambition. I want to join him since when we enter the field, it is to win and therefore from there, the ambition is perhaps to be also on the top step of the podium.

Didier Deschamps, Philippe Laporte, Julien Stéphan. MAXPPP – Adam Davy

Hervé Renard's players did not achieve the objectives that you had set this summer, during the World Cup. Have you reviewed this competition with him ?

Yes and it has not escaped your notice that before this World Cup, there had been a lot of changes in the team, starting with the coach. There is obviously frustration at having been eliminated in the quarter-finals, without having lost a match. But having spent three weeks with the team during this World Cup, I saw a lot of professionalism, a unity between the players and the staff. It brings hope. The quality is there and I tell myself that with all this, we will succeed in winning the title that we have all been waiting for for years, in women's football.

Avoiding the Tokyo Disaster

Have you discussed an extension of Hervé Renard's contract which ends after the Olympics?< /strong>