French Revolution: The Battle for the Future of French Football

In June, France exited Euro 2008 in the group stages with two losses and one draw. The scoreline totals? A disastrous one goal scored for France, six scored against.

In the aftermath, coach Raymond Domenech was widely expected to get the sack. It didn’t happen. In July, the Fédération Française de Football (FFF) voted 18-0 with one abstention to retain him as coach of the France National Team.

The Euro fiasco and the vote to retain Domenech have created a heated battle in France over the future of the team, and especially over who will lead it. It’s been portrayed as a pro- vs. anti-Domenech fight, but that’s too simplistic. Underneath it all, this is more about the future of the game in France.

On one side of the battle, we have the traditionalists of the FFF, led by President Jean-Pierre Escalettes. If I understand the view of the traditionalists correctly, one works one’s way up to the job of National Team coach by being an FFF team player. Raymond Domenech is the perfect example of the company man: He paid his dues to the organization by serving as coach of the U-21s for eleven years. The National Team was the reward. The widespread view was that Domenech was retained after Euros because the FFF didn’t have a company man ready to take his place.

On the other side of the fence, we have the reformers. The most outspoken members of this faction are France’s World Cup-winning players from 1998. Among them: Bixente Lizarazu, Cristophe Dugarry, and Emmanuel Petit. And, most recently, Robert Pirès and Zinedine Zidane. I get the impression that these reformers feel the FFF is getting a bit…inbred. After Euros, they lobbied in the press for the NT job go to one of their own, probably Didier Deschamps, or possibly Laurent Blanc.

But neither Blanc nor Deschamps are FFF guys, and Escalettes and the gang were none too happy with what they saw as outside interference. And Escalettes inadvertently fanned the flames recently by publicly discussing how the FFF resisted pressure from the reformers of 1998 — a group he called a “clan.”

That description infuriated a lot of folks, especially the members of that so-called clan. Several, including Zidane, have spoken out, saying that they didn’t act as part of a concerted effort, but instead spoke up as individuals who care deeply about the future of the team. Dugarry went so far as to say that the true clan was the FFF.

The public outcry has been huge. The World Cup winners from 1998 are icons in France. With Escalettes’ criticism, the tide of public opinion seems to have been turning away from the pro-Domenech forces in the FFF.

The FFF has been working to try to shore up support, doing things like naming 1998 player Alain Boghossian as an assistant coach for the NT, and asking France’s beloved and most-capped player, Lilian Thuram, to take a place on the FFF. Will it be enough?

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Domenech didn’t help his own case in France’s first World Cup qualifier against Austria. France’s FIFA ranking was about 100 places higher than Austria’s, but France got thumped, 3-1. Domenech redeemed himself a bit against Serbia with a 2-1 win, but it wasn’t anywhere close to enough to quiet the critics.

And so everything rests on France’s game against Romania on October 11. A decisive win would buy Domenech some more time. With a loss, or possibly even with a draw, though, this powder keg is gonna blow. Domenech will almost certainly be replaced.

The big question is: By whom?