THE WRITTEN INQUIRY - It's a long-awaited comeback for women's football. In the wake of a successful French World Cup, the entire community is preparing to change dimension: arrival of new sponsors, increase in registrations.

INVESTIGATION

On Sunday, 1,500 spectators were present for the PSG restart match, twice as many as for the same match last year. The women's world is attracting a new audience, like Gislaine who came for the first time, with her husband and daughter: "It's the women's soccer world cup that made us want to come" she reacts. . "We love PSG but our 6 year old daughter is a little small to go to the Parc des Princes.It is a good compromise to come to Paris in a slightly cooler atmosphere," says her husband.

Amateur football as a big winner

New audience but also new business for the D1. The world has attracted a big sponsor, Arkema, which gives 1 million euros per year to the clubs. Many companies are also approaching clubs and salaries are starting to increase.

But above all, the big winner is amateur football. Today there are 185,000 licensed and the bar of 200,000 registered will be crossed this year.

For the president of the Viking club in Paris, Gustave Tollgert, the world cup effect is undeniable: "We are in August but there are several calls and mails a day.I just have a call from my manager to ask me to increase the volume of equipment because the volume of registered players has tripled. "

All clubs are experiencing the same phenomenon and some expect a rise of 20% or even 30% of registrations.

Investments throughout the territory

For the rest, Noël Le Graët, the president of the Football Federation, announces investments: "The Federation creates important training centers throughout the country and we are at 700. A dozen centers will be created from here two years and we hired technicians of good value, close to what is done for boys. "

The federation and the league hold regular meetings to boost discipline. Many ideas are being studied including one that reveals Europe 1: the money raised by the football league, during the next call for tenders for TV rights, would be partly donated to women's football.

An affluence that remains low

Nevertheless, the influx in stadiums remains low. The figure was 500 spectators per game last year in the league. This year, on a weekend, there is better but we are far from filling the stadiums. Although 1,500 people were in Paris on Sunday, the stadium had a capacity of 20,000 seats. An affluence that says a lot about the economic model of women's football, far from being in balance.