After the resignation of Noël Le Graët this Tuesday, February 28, Philippe Diallo is the brand new president of the FFF until the next elections.
Little known to the general public, Philippe Diallo officially takes the head of the FFF this Tuesday, February 28 after the resignation of Noël Le Graët during the Comex. As a reminder, he was already the interim president of the Federation after the withdrawal of Noël Le Graët before the publication of the audit.
Who is he ? What is his background? The least we can say is that Philippe Diallo is far from being an unknown in the very cozy world of football. Successively Director General of the Employers’ Union of Professional Football Clubs, which is none other than the employers’ union of professional clubs, President of the Social Council of the Sports Movement, Treasurer General of the French Football Federation and then Vice President of the FFF , he has a particularly extensive CV, but not only that. “It will be an anti-Le Graët in communication”, assured Frédéric Jaillant, in charge of com ‘of the LFP under the presidency of Frédéric Thiriez. And to detail: “His thing is not the big sentences that will divide the world of football. He will speak little and, when he does, it will be when he has something to say.”
Asked by L’Equipe at the end of January, Philippe Diallo explained that he would always put the general interest rather than his personal interest, despite everyone’s ambitions. “I exercise my duty as a sports manager. I must put myself above the fray and have the general interest as my sole concern. Which means that personal ambitions which may be legitimate must be put on hold in this period. crisis. Then, everyone can have the ambitions they consider natural to be able to claim the post of president of the Federation.”
Vice-president in office since December 2021, Philippe Diallo inherited the heavy task of replacing Noël Le Graët at short notice, as required by the statutes of the FFF. This interim should last until the next election scheduled for June.
Philippe Diallo was born in Saint Nazaire in 1963. He is the son of Souleymane Diallo, former Senegalese boxing champion, and a French mother. If it was initially on the football field that he wanted to make a career, within the youth teams of FC Nantes, it is with brilliance that he succeeded in his retraining, integrating Sciences Po from where he graduated from a course in public law and business law.
Former director general of the UCPF, the historic union of clubs which he joined almost from its creation in 1992, he was also president of the Social Council of the Sports Movement (CoSMoS) and judge at FIFA. He subsequently joined the FFF Executive Committee as Treasurer in March 2021 before becoming Vice-President in December 2021, taking over from Brigitte Henriques.
Diallo is presented by some as an anti-Le Graët. He is suspected of having approached Florence Hardouin, general manager of the FFF, also laid off on January 11, a few years ago to try to get hold of the Federation, before entering the ranks. and to support Noël Le Graët during his renewal in March 2021.
“It will be an anti-Le Graët in communication”, also told AFP the former journalist and communication officer of the LFP, Frédéric Jaillant, who praises a personality “of the most powerful and influential “in the world of football. football, “both pragmatic and political”, who will make moderate use of his word. Others confirm in the press since his appointment his “skills”, his mastery of files, his sense of consensus and his ability to listen to clubs and members.
Proof of his weight and influence, Philippe Diallo has already been mentioned in the past to take the helm of another football body: the Professional League (LFP). Although he has never applied for and carefully avoids the media, his name will nevertheless have been mentioned with insistence in 2016, on the sidelines of the election which will lead to the appointment of Nathalie Boy de la Tour as take over from Frédéric Thiriez at the time.
Philippe Diallo is also presented as a deminer, he who notably launched a few months ago a “reflection” to create a compensation fund for the victims of the World Cup sites in Qatar. But this time, it is another type of mine clearance that will have to be ensured as the 3F, mired in scandals, particularly sexual, seems in turmoil.
