Acting President Philippe Diallo expects within "eight or fifteen days", the "recommendations" of a commission bringing together Aulas, Marc Keller, Laura Georges and Aline Riera, he announced Tuesday after the meeting of his executive committee.

The urgency is in fact, only five months before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (July 20-August 20).

And the situation has been insoluble since three executive players, including captain Wendie Renard, announced their withdrawal from the French women's team in recent days, in a gesture of defiance towards the coach.

The four members of the appointed Comex will have to “draw up an assessment of the current situation and draw up a list of recommendations and decisions to be taken very quickly in order to restore a situation conducive to performance”, explains the FFF in a press release.

"We can't miss the Olympics"

"The FFF reaffirms that no individuality can be placed above the institution. It regrets the form of these complaints but will give the necessary attention to the substance to find a positive solution, always in the interests of the team of France," added the body.

The FFF is faced with a dilemma: proving the players right by dismissing Deacon would amount to giving them power, a dangerous case law.

But inaction in the face of an unprecedented crisis would undoubtedly destroy the chances of a title in Oceania.

Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Lyon and in charge of women's football on the executive committee, is well aware of this and seems determined to upset the established order... By taking care not to transform the sling into a putsch.

The president of Lyon and member of the Comex of the FFF, Jean-Michel Aulas, on February 28, 2023 at the headquarters of the Federation © FRANCK FIFE / AFP

"The Comex must listen to the players and quickly find the solution. We have the World Cup coming up, then the Olympics. We cannot miss the Olympics in general, and in Paris it is essential, "said launched the president, close to Wendie Renard.

“We will try to arrive with as many conclusions as possible for March 9”, date of the next executive committee.

"Wendie is not the first to speak out," added the OL boss.

“I am one of those who think (…) that perhaps this momentum should be reversed. From the moment people express themselves in a balanced way, with arguments, you have to listen to them. We will take our responsibilities".

The leader, interested in taking the reins of the future Professional Women's League whose launch is long overdue, isn't he afraid of giving power to the players?

"I was never afraid of anything," he replied.

Aulas and Deacon, frying on the line

The key role of Aulas in the future of the management of the France team risks costing Corinne Deacon dearly: since her arrival at Les Bleues in 2017, the coach has often offended the president of Lyon, by dismissing executives of OL (Amandine Henry, Eugénie Le Sommer) or by removing Renard's captain's armband at the start of his mandate, for example.

Tuesday at the exit of the FFF, only the president of the Men's League (LFP) Vincent Labrune came, timidly, to the rescue of Deacon.

"From the outside, I rather have the impression that Corinne Deacon is a woman of integrity, a fair, hardworking woman, who has a lot of merit", assured the leader.

But the management methods of the former coach of Clermont in Ligue 2, which the rebellious deem far from high-level standards, risk weighing against him, over the hearings that the Special Commission will conduct.

In the event of dismissal, several names have come up in discussions and in the press in recent days, most of them already in office.

Sonia Bompastor (Olympique Lyonnais), Gérard Prêcheur (Paris SG), Sandrine Soubeyrand (Paris FC) and Patrice Lair (Bordeaux) are mentioned, as is the former deputy of Deacon, Éric Blahic, whose players had "greatly appreciated the passage in selection" (2020-2021), according to a source close to the Blue.

Enough to make the rebels change their minds?

© 2023 AFP