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Three holders of the Bleues – captain Wendie Renard, attackers Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani – withdrew from the selection five months before the World Cup, demanding “changes” in management.
Thunderbolt on the French women’s football team! Captain Wendie Renard and attackers Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani slammed the door of the selection on Friday February 24, five months before the World Cup. These three emblematic players of the Blue thus claim “changes”.
“Management” decried, “system far from high-level requirements”, mixed “results” … The three stars of the team did not mince words on social networks, a few days following the first gathering of the year.
The uppercut is violent for the management of the France team. He indirectly reached coach Corinne Deacon, never named by her executives but referred to in veiled terms, and the French Football Federation.
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Already stuck in the management of the future of its president Noël Le Graët, the “3F” must now manage a female “Knysna”, which revives the episode of the players’ strike at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa among the gentlemen.
Wendie Renard showed the way
The players nevertheless approached it differently, well before the event: five months before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (June 20 – July 20), they are speaking out to ask for “changes required”.
“I can no longer endorse the current system, far from the requirements required by the highest level”, writes Renard, holder of the best record of the current France team from the top of her 32 years and 142 selections.
The explosion quickly turned into a fire when the two stars of the Paris SG and Les Bleues attack, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani, followed in the footsteps of the Lyonnaise.
The first mentioned “the events of 2019” (she had not been selected for the World Cup in France, editor’s note) and “the injury of 2022” (she seriously injured her knee at the last Euro) to justify her position. “I am no longer in line with the management of the France team and the values transmitted”, writes the top scorer of the last three seasons of D1 women.
The second point, it, the “recent results” and the “management in the France team”, requiring “profound changes”.
Wendie Renard goes even further by indicating that she wants to “preserve (her) mental health”. “My face can hide the pain, but my heart is in pain… and I don’t want to suffer anymore,” said the player.
Unfortunate semi-finalists at the Euro last summer, still in search of their first international title, the French have lived several mixed months since the start of the season, with in particular two significant defeats in October in Germany (2-1) and in Sweden (3-0), two competitors for the planetary title.
Led by Renard and Diani (Katoto is injured), the Bleues have timidly raised their heads by winning the Tournoi de France in recent days, a friendly event, once morest nations deemed weaker: Denmark (1-0), Uruguay (5–1) and Norway (0–0).
Corinne Deacon in the line of sight
By their decisions, Renard, Katoto and Diani add a line – by far the thickest – to the long history of turbulence associated with the mandate of Corinne Deacon, in office since 2017 and extended last summer until the 2024 Olympics by Noël Le Graët, who has always defended it.
The former coach of Clermont in Ligue 2 had seen his debut parasitized by his decried choice to remove the captain’s armband from Renard. She finally returned it to him in September 2021.
The dismissals of certain executives, such as Amandine Henry and Eugénie Le Sommer, also went badly with several players. And in recent days, the surprise summons of the midfielder Kheira Hamraoui, who has icy relations with Katoto and Diani, has caused a lot of talk.
Asked by AFP, the French Football Federation and the coach did not react to these developments on Friday.
For various reasons, other female players or selections have taken similar positions in recent years. The Norwegian Ada Hegerberg, the first winner of the Women’s Golden Ball in history, had notably taken a step back with her selection between 2017 and 2022. Since the start of the season, around fifteen players from Spain have also refused to play. as long as their coach, Jorge Vilda, remains in office.
In recent days, the Canadian selection has considered boycotting the last rally to denounce gender inequalities and the lack of funding, blamed on their federation.
With AFP
