Guess who just got noticed again? France, of course. While UEFA, the European Association of Clubs and several large federations have signaled, in a joint text, that the World Cup project would be “harmful” for women’s football, the French Football Federation does not see it in any way. this eye. The FFF did not sign the joint text released on Monday, unlike the English, German, Italian, Danish and Finnish, Swedish, Swiss and Dutch federations.
In detail, UEFA and the other signatories deplore the “additional congestion” of the women’s calendar and fear “a greater risk of physical injuries and impacts on mental health for top-level players”, similar complaints to those issued against the Men’s Biennial World Cup.
Loss of financial viability
More specifically, they believe that women’s football would lose its “financial viability” due to “market saturation” – while the major finals for women are currently taking place in odd years, while those for men are scheduled in odd-numbered years. even years. UEFA and its allies also fear a negative effect on “professionalization and investment in national leagues”, which provide “full-time jobs for the players”, although there is currently no ‘a handful of professional championships among women.
The French Football Federation had already cracked on Friday the unity of European football, until then unanimously hostile to the project, when its president, Noël Le Graët, told the newspaper The team have “no opposition to a World Cup every two years”.