On Saturday, Philippe Diallo was re-elected president of the French Football Federation.
Diallo, who took power after the resignation of longtime former head of state Noel Le Graet in 2023, won just over 55 percent of the vote, defeating Le Graet’s former ally Pierre Samsonoff.
For the first time in France’s largest sports federation, which has 2.4 million members, presidents of amateur clubs could vote electronically along with those of professional clubs, where 11,500 voters voted compared to less than 250 voters previously.
Diallo, 61, welcomed the “strong legitimacy” the vote gave him and praised the “democratic maturity that brings honor to our sport.”
He said he would launch a national discussion on French football from mid-January “to jointly define our action plan to help amateur football.”
During the campaign, Diallo highlighted his achievements with the federation, including a contract worth 100 million euros ($105 million) per year from 2026 with American sportswear brand Nike.
Diallo also courted grassroots football, increasing its budget from €100 million to €150 million a year between now and 2028, and highlighted its ambitions for women’s football, in which it wants to double membership from 250,000 to 500,000 within five years .
Diallo strengthened his position in January 2023 when Le Graet was first sidelined and then forced to resign amid allegations of sexual and psychological harassment, ending more than a decade in office.
