Asnières-sur-Seine (France) (AFP)

With the upcoming arrival of star Ricardinho, will futsal finally explode in France? "The planets are all aligned," hope the players in the discipline, while the Blues aim, from Saturday, a qualification for the first World Cup in their history.

"We have the chance to bring back the best player in the world, perhaps the best in history. Ricardinho is the equivalent of a Zidane, a Maradona, a Lionel Messi. that this is one of the biggest transfers that French sport has known ", welcomes Sami Sellami, president of Access FC.

Created in 2008, the Hauts-de-Seine club, still in the 3rd division three years ago, has succeeded in making an "enormous" media and sports coup by attracting the Portuguese "crack", voted six times better, in its ambitious nets. futsal world player.

In Asnières-sur-Seine, the Arena Teddy Riner and its 1,000 seats sold out during the match against Nantes ... just a few days after the official arrival in early January. The first Ricardinho effect? "We had never seen so many people and the media," rejoices an elected mayor, new host of the club from Villeneuve-La-Garenne.

And for good reason, unlike Brazil, the Iberian Peninsula or the countries of Eastern Europe, which have entered the era of professionalism since the post-war period, the discipline still suffers from a lack of exposure in France.

The explosion of five-a-side football - a discipline that has nothing to do with futsal despite many common points - has not helped matters in the eyes of the general public.

- "Media exposure" -

Under the impetus of a selection that played the first international competition in its history at the Euro in 2018, the hour of awakening has finally struck for French clubs.

Long dependent on "public subsidies", Acces FC intends to "build a new economic model" worthy of an NBA franchise to achieve its ultimate goal: "to be the first Parisian club to bring back the Champions League".

"But we have six months to do the work of six years, explains to AFP Sami Sellami. With the media exposure that we provoked, and the repercussions that will follow, it is much easier for us to mobilize sponsors and create an industry that will benefit all of us. "

With a current budget oscillating "between 400,000 and 600,000 euros", "it would have to be multiplied by five next year, at 2.5 M EUR, to assume all the charges and generate income to invest", completes the leader.

Impossible mission ? "There are companies sufficiently visionary and intelligent in France to say that this is the only moment in history when it is necessary to be there, he hopes. In 10 years, it will be too late".

Provided, however, that the other D1 clubs are "up to par, in every sense of the term (infrastructure, finance, level of players)", the ambitions of the Paris locomotive, says Djamel Haroun, Garges player and captain of the Blues .

- "Reproduce" the model of women's football -

"If we give a big spotlight and we are not square enough, there could be an incident that will harm us and turn the tide," he warns.

To anchor the discipline towards professionalism, the French Federation launched a development plan, modeled on the model of women's football. "We are reproducing a system that works and wins," said Pierre Jacky, coach of the France team since 2004.

In addition to the rehabilitation of several specific fields or the progressive "structuring" of elite clubs, the "3F" has completed the launch of a hope pole in Lyon to train the internationals of tomorrow.

While futsal (around 30,000 licensees) is the most practiced sport in the school environment, with more than 180,000 young people registered with the UNSS, clubs like Accs FC hope even better: "to create the next French Ricardinho".

Before arriving there, the current international would like to free themselves from their amateur status to be able to devote themselves fully to their career, because "the federal futsal contract does not exist", deplores Pierre Jacky.

"With the arrival of one or two stars in the Championship, and the results of the French team, maybe we will speed up the maneuver so that futsal can benefit from roughly the same regulatory outlines" as the female D1, he hopes. The last important step to take.

© 2020 AFP