The French Football Federation (FFF) on Thursday announced that it had decided to part ways with national team head coach Corinne Diacre after an executive committee meeting. 

In a press release, the FFF praised Diacre's "involvement and seriousness" but said that a four-person committee that had been set up to scrutinize how the women's national team is being run, had "unanimously" recommended sacking the coach.

"The numerous hearings conducted have made it possible to establish a very important gap with some top players," it said. "This gap has reached a point of no return that damages the team's interests."

Player resignations

The move wasn't completely unexpected, as Diacre had been under growing pressure since captain Wendie Renard announced her resignation from the national team last month.

"I can no longer support the current system which falls a long way short of the demands required to compete at the highest level," Renard said. 

Paris Saint-Germain forward Kadidiatou Diani, the top scorer in the French league, who like Renard was nominated for last year's Ballon d'Or, also quit, along with her PSG teammate Marie-Antoinette Katoto.

The federation said interim President Philippe Diallo had asked a committee to speak to potential candidates to replace Diacre as head coach "as soon as possible."

Adding to the FFF's crisis

The move could hardly have come at a more inopportune time, with France set to compete in the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in July and August.

The French federation was already in crisis following the resignation of its scandal-hit 81-year-old president, Noel Le Graet, last week.

Diacre, who took charge of the French national team in 2017 and was under contract until August 2024, said on Wednesday that she had become the victim of a smear campaign.

Under Diacre, France, as hosts, lost to the United States in the quarterfinals at the last World Cup in 2019.  Les Bleues then lost to Germany in the semifinals of last year's Euros in England.

Diacre, who as a player made 121 appearances for the national team, previously coached second-division outfit Clermont — making her the first woman to coach a men's team in a competitive match in France.

pfd/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP)