20 h. ago PSG blame French Football Federation over ‘serious’ Dembele and Doue injuries

The Champions League winners said that the ‘serious and avoidable events must give rise to rapid and immediate corrective measures’

Events

29 h. ago Vive les Socios: struggling French clubs open doors to shareholder fans in tough times

Supporters are putting money into their teams in a typically collective response to financial crisisThere seems to be a not-for-profit association for everything in France, from amateur mycology to choral music and international disaster relief. There were one and a half million Associations Loi 1901 at the last count, which equates to one for every 48 inhabitants, with 60,000 to 70,000 new groups created each year. They constitute an essential part of the fabric of French society, a natural response to every kind of need felt by local communities – except when it comes to organised football.This is odd, considering professionalism was introduced by the French FA as late as 1932 after a decade of hand-wringing and it would have been natural for practitioners of the game to take the matter in their own hands. Yet in France, club ownership at all but the lowest level has always been the preserve of private individuals, local authorities and, a very French trait, businesses that have s...

Politics

5 d. ago Football Daily | Are Strasbourg a sister club to Chelsea or just their storage facility?

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!Strasbourg, official seat of the European parliament, the jewel of the Alsace region on the west bank of the Rhine. Important historically, geographically and politically. One of the city’s most famous sons, Arsène Wenger, as a boy, was so embedded that his first language was Low Alemannic German, not French. To use a word Wenger brought to the English football vernacular – footballistically – Strasbourg was never too much of a hub. The club reformed after liquidation as recently as 2011, having won just one French title back in 1979 when Wenger was a fringe player already embedded in coaching. In defence was the future France coach Raymond Domenech, the keen astrologist in charge when a very Gallic bust-up ravaged Les Bleus at the 2010 World Cup.We’re all captivated by the journey of Wrexham. It’s been amazing for Welsh football and hopefully now in a number of years we’ll see young players coming through There isn’t similarities t...

Sport

8 d. ago Hamza Igamane has French media purring as he forgets Rangers by helping Lille smash 28

Moroccan scores twice as new team soar to summit of Ligue 1

Politics

2 w. ago Football Daily | Cole Palmer v French vineyard is football’s latest random copyright battle

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!Victoria Beckham taking on and losing against Peterborough United in a battle over the nickname “Posh”. Cristiano Ronaldo trademarking the combination of his initials and shirt number, “CR7”, to boost his brand. Kylian Mbappé nabbing the rights to his iconic crossed-arms goal celebration when it almost certainly would have been far more lucrative to seize ownership of that ubiquitously annoying “cry more” gif so beloved of dullards on several Social Media Disgraces. In a football business already swamped with cash and opportunists eager to get their mitts on as much of it as they can, it ought to come as no surprise that the very top players, clubs and Peterborough try to maximise their income by making their personal “brands” off limits to potential counterfeiters, bootleggers and other ne’er-do-wells.I don’t want any players who don’t want to come to the club. If they don’t want to come here and wear this fantastic badge, we don’t...

Events

2 w. ago Ligue 1 fans are given unprecedented TV access – but only to old storylines

The league’s new TV channel will show everything from team talks to dressing room celebrations, but not a title raceBy Get French Football NewsAn elaborate exercise in window dressing is perhaps how to best describe the return of Ligue 1 football. With the league-owned Ligue 1+ taking over broadcasting duties and with a desperate need to “add value” to the “product”, there was a sweeping range of innovations for the return of top-flight football.Viewers were treated to France World Cup winner Djibril Sidibé dialling in from the Toulouse dressing room following their win over Nice; Nantes manager Luís Castro providing a mid-match tactical overview during their defeat to PSG; images of raucous dressing room celebrations, of pre-match preparations, team talks, you name it. Stadiums become panopticon prisons, and omnipresent cameras erode any mystery that remains in the relationship between those who play the sport and those who watch it. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Europe’s finest could not stop PSG. What chance do Ligue 1 clubs have?

Marseille, Monaco, Nice, Lille and Lyon face economic realities that do not concern the European championsBy Get French Football NewsIf Europe’s elite could not contain Paris Saint-Germain last season, what chance is there for Ligue 1’s impoverished chasing pack? Before the season has even started, their rivals seem to have already submitted to this logic. Never have PSG felt more untouchable than they do now. Chelsea found the recipe for dismantling Luis Enrique’s machine but the rest of Europe floundered last season. Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Milan all fell by the wayside as PSG were crowned European champions.That success came at a time when PSG had never looked more vulnerable under Qatar Sports Investments ownership. Despite their prodigious talents, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi were symptoms of the wider ills of the club’s management. But they ensured one thing: that PSG were unshakeable favourites in every domestic game...

Politics