It was well worth the wait… 25 years after Atlanta, France again sent a football delegation to the Olympics. A nice gift for French football fans, we thought. But he quickly found himself poisoned.
After a failed Euro 2021, we could hope for a successful Games to raise our heads. Lost, France looked pale, failing to get out of the hens with the worst defense of the tournament (11 goals conceded in 3 matches). But, for once, it’s not the players who are responsible.
Responsible clubs and federation
No, the Stations of the Cross through which Sylvain Ripoll had to pass to put 21 names on his list of selected ones suggested such a fiasco. French clubs, but also foreign ones, have played very little the game of freeing their internationals. Including teams from Ligue 2 (Amiens, Nîmes) and Serie B (Brescia). The opportunity to greet here Montpellier and the Tigers UANL (Mexico), who released Téji Savanier, André-Pierre Gignac and Florian Thauvin.
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Téji Savanier and André-Pierre Gignac, executives of the France team during the Tokyo Olympics, could not prevent the Blues from sinking in the first round. © AFP
So, the clubs, only responsible? Partly, yes, but not only. One can understand the defense of their interests, in full period of recovery and transfer window. In fact, we have the impression that French football woke up too late to prepare for this deadline. The bluff of the FFF, which made a first list of players without consulting the clubs, illustrates this well. Was it so complicated to predict the Tokyo deadline in advance?
The impression emerges of a great contempt for the football Olympics. Finally, in France. The famous French exception. Because you only have to review the tears of a superstar like Neymar, during his Olympic title in 2016, to be convinced of their value elsewhere.
It was an exceptional human adventure, but the Federation has never put us in the spotlight. She was not up to the task
, confided to us already before the Games William Ayache, about his Olympic title with France in 1984. Like the impression that history has repeated itself, the gold medal less.
Kylian Mbappé’s pressure
So what needs to be changed? Should we be inspired by the Spanish neighbor, where the Federation forces its clubs to release their internationals? Not necessarily, when you see how some players in the Roja having chained the Euro and the Olympics are affected by muscle injuries (Pedri, Oyarzabal), at a time when the hellish pace of the competitions is pointed out.
Without making such a radical change, perhaps a simple step forward on each side, between the clubs and the Federation, will bring the best. The media exposure of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, which already monopolize the news, could be useful. Qualified automatically as the organizing country, France will not be able to afford the same fiasco as in Japan.
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That’s good, a man has already started this Olympic quest. By openly declaring that he wanted to participate in the Paris Games, Kylian Mbappé has almost secured a place in the list, except injury. And there is no doubt that this question of being released by his club in the summer of 2024, shortly after the Euro in Germany, will be addressed when he next signs a contract, at PSG or elsewhere.
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