France head coach Diacre fired after player revolt
With just four months until the Women’s World Cup, France head coach Corinne Diacre has been fired after several players threatened to quit the team.
French national team head coach Corinne Diacre has been fired just four months ahead of the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. This comes after captain Wendie Renard and several other players on the French team said they would quit the team as long as Diacre was still in charge.
Tension between Diacre and French players
There have been issues between Diacre and the French squad for a while now. Renard released a statement saying she would no longer play for a team that supports the current French “system”. She also posted on social media that she was taking a break from the team in order “to preserve her mental health”. Teammates Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani also vowed to boycott the team until something was done about Diacre.
Diacre was supported by French Football Federation President Noël Le Graët and her contract was extended after the French team made it to the Euro 2022 semifinals. When Le Graët resigned, Diacre lost her biggest supporter in the institution.
The problems the players had with Diacre included her coaching methods, public criticisms of players, and management decisions. Earlier this month, Diani criticized the set-up of the French national team and cited a lack of professionalism, aiming her complaints at Diacre.
“Today, we find ourselves with a fairly small staff. It’s the coach who decides on her staff,” said Diani.
Diacre’s firing comes just one day after she called the attacks on her coaching a “smear campaign” and vowed to continue on.
“I endured, not without great suffering, the display of slander, untruths and ambitions of some and others,” said Diacre. “I have been the subject of a smear campaign that is astonishing in its violence and dishonesty.”
The French Football Federation cited the poor relationship between Diacre and her squad as the reason for the firing, saying the damage was “irreversible” and at the point of “no return”. A four-person committee had been commissioned to analyze how the French team was being run. In their statement, they said they noticed a “very significant divide between players”.
The statement also made sure to note that the players’ behavior was also not acceptable, criticizing them for the way in which they “expressed their criticism”.
France looking for new head coach ahead of World Cup
The World Cup kicks off in July in Australia and that leaves France with just four months to find a replacement for Diacre. Interim president of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, has asked the executive committee to interview candidates as soon as possible. At the moment, Saudi Arabia boss Herve Renard and PSG Women’s coach Gerard Precheur are being considered to fill the role.