On Saturday, Philippe Diallo was chosen to replace former president Michel Platini as the head of the French Football Federation.
Diallo, who was given the position of temporary boss following the departure of long-time previous head Noel Le Graet, won nearly 90 percent of the vote cast by the FFF’s general assembly in Paris, which had a total of 200 participants.
The term of office for the 59-year-old politician will continue until the end of 2024.
Following the election, Diallo was quoted as saying, “You grant me a very great honor with this enormous vote.”
In addition, “it’s also a big responsibility as we’ve endured some difficult times over the past few months,” he added. “We’ve gone through some difficult times over the past few months.”
In January, when Le Graet initially stood aside and then was forced to quit following claims of sexual and psychological harassment, Diallo stepped up to the plate as interim president. This brought an end to more than a decade of Le Graet’s reign as leader of the organization.
The 81-year-old’s tenure as manager coincided with the resurgence of the French men’s national team as a formidable opponent, as seen by their triumph at the 2018 World Cup and subsequent journey to the final of the 2017 tournament in Qatar, where they were ultimately defeated by Argentina on penalty kicks.
However, Le Graet resigned just a few days after the publication of a devastating investigation into management procedures at the Paris-based FFF. The research had been commissioned by the sports ministry and was critical of the organization’s leadership.
During the same time period, the state of the women’s game in France was in a state of crisis after Corinne Diacre was fired from her role as coach of the national team after a mutiny by prominent players undermined her authority.
Herve Renard, who recently led Saudi Arabia to a stunning victory over Lionel Messi and the eventual champions Argentina at the World Cup last year, has been named as her replacement, and the Women’s World Cup will begin one month from now.