FFF invests 70 million euros over 5 years in the new professional women’s league

“There will be in this professional league no less than 15 million (euro) that will be invested to support the clubs in the structuring. It will be slightly more than 70 million euros over five years”said FFF treasurer Aline Riera during a press conference presenting the LFFP.

The Women’s Professional Football League was approved at the FFF’s Federal Assembly on 10 June 2023 and will become operational on 1 July 2024.

The LFFP budget announced by the FFF is 10 million euros for the 2024-2025 season, compared to 7.5 million for the current season in D1 Arkema, the first division championship.

“This is a historic moment for women’s football and more generally for sport feminine”, emphasizes the president of FFF Philippe Diallo.

“We want this league to be among the best in Europe, and if possible the best. »

Former owner and president of Olympique Lyonnais Jean-Michel Aulas has been appointed president of the Women’s Professional Football League while Paul-Hervé Douillard will be director.

“For me, it’s a moment that’s also a moment of emotion,” declared Jean-Michel Aulas, a major architect of the development of women’s football at Olympique Lyonnais, who qualified for their eleventh women’s Champions League final on Sunday by eliminating PSG.

“This is the best news to happen to French women’s football”greeted Hervé Renard, the coach of the French women’s team since March 2023.

It should allow French women’s football to catch up with England, whose championship became fully professional in 2018, or even with Spain and Italy, from 2022.

“It was a commitment. We must not be overwhelmed”added Hervé Renard, less than three months before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where the Blues will try to win their first title.

Jean-Michel Aulas also announced the creation of an operating collective agreement on 1 July as part of this new league.

“It will be a very avant-garde convention. A vision that allows our players not to win as much as the boys, but to progress which is very important.”he indicated.

ALSO READ. Women’s Champions League. OL tames PSG and joins Barcelona in the final on May 25

Placed under the FFF, the Women’s Professional Football League aims to develop French women’s football more widely.

While it has just passed the milestone of 250,000 female license holders, the association aims for 500,000 within five years.