Coach Sylvain Ripoll faces the reluctance of many clubs who have to juggle an insane schedule and the summer transfer window
Will France be able to present a football team at the Tokyo Olympics? While the Blues have not participated in the Olympic tournament since 1996, coach Sylvain Ripoll, faced with the reluctance of many clubs when releasing their players, has the greatest difficulty in building his list.
In March and then in May, before the two phases of the Euro-Espoirs, everyone raved about the wealth of the French reservoir among young people, with in all lines and even on the bench confirmed talents, lapped to the major championships and, for some, to the Champions League and the A selection.
But the Olympic team, which the coach must constitute with elements born after January 1, 1997 (against 1998 for the Espoirs) with the exception of three players maximum outside the age group, risks having a completely different appearance. .
Because for the moment, a large majority of the clubs contacted by the coach and the FFF are reluctant to release their players, or even simply refuse. They have the right to do so, the Olympic tournament not appearing on the official Fifa calendar.
In the end, the situation is such that the architecture of the list has now become extremely problematic. Theoretically, Ripoll must submit by June 30 at the latest a list of 18 players plus four reservists who will only play in case of withdrawal from the main list.
About ten players
However, according to AFP information, the coach can now only count on a dozen players available, including André-Pierre Gignac, and without any logic of positions emerging.
While he had deposited at the beginning of the year a very broad pre-list of 85 to 90 players, Ripoll has at his disposal about fifty names, those of the second list communicated in mid-May to the IOC and to Fifa. He does not have the right to draw outside.
The coach is active, like the president of the federation Noël Le Graët and Marc Keller, president of RC Strasbourg and member of the FFF executive committee. Some clubs, like Lyon, Angers or Brest, are cooperative. But others have closed the door.
“To this day, Stade Rennais does not release its players. The exchanges continue but to date they do not leave ”, thus confirmed to AFP a spokesperson for the club of Rennes, which has in its workforce at least three elements (Eduardo Camavinga, Faitout Maouassa, Adrien Truffert) on which Ripoll hoped he could count.
Many French and foreign clubs are on the same line. This is the case in France of Nice (Amine Gouiri) or Paris SG, where Colin Dagba was not allowed to participate in the Olympics, nor Kylian Mbappé or the Brazilian stars Neymar and Marquinhos.
The transfer window weighs
In addition to the absence of obligation, the clubs justify their refusal by an insane calendar, in which the Olympic tournament (July 22-August 7) fits very badly, with its final scheduled for the same day of the first day of Ligue 1 .
In the case of Monaco, which has many selectable players (Benoît Badiashile, Alex Disasi, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Youssouf Fofana …), everything changed after Villarreal’s victory against Manchester United in the Europa League final, which forced the club to the Principality to play two preliminary rounds of the Champions League in early August.
Not necessarily initially reluctant to let their players go to Tokyo, ASM has finally changed their minds and should focus on their own interests and their early season deadlines.
Certain uncertain transfer window situations, such as for Camavinga in Rennes, or Boubakary Soumaré or even Jonathan Ikoné in Lille, do not encourage clubs to let their players slip away either.
In the federation, it was found that France was not the only one experiencing difficulties, the problem also existing in Germany. But that’s no consolation. While the program provided for two training camps and two friendly matches, the FFF no longer communicates. Everything is frozen.
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