Philippe Diallo: 'We must preserve the ethics and integrity of football'
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
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In a wide-ranging interview, the French Football Federation president reflects on his varied path into football, a new international era and the biggest issues currently facing world football.
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From his early days playing the game to shaping policy at its highest levels, Philippe Diallo's path into football has been both varied and influential.
A law graduate who built his career across government, communications and football governance, he has led the French Football Federation (FFF) since 2023 as well as sitting on the UEFA Executive Committee.
In this exclusive interview, Diallo reflects on domestic structural reforms, French clubs' resurgence on the European stage and a new international era under Zinédine Zidane after a fourth-place finish at the FIFA World Cup.
Philippe, can you talk about your early experiences of football and sport in general?
My father was in the French Navy and started boxing there. He competed in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome and reached the quarter-finals, before going on to pursue a professional career, he was a runner-up at European level.
Despite this, he never pushed me towards boxing. Football was my first passion and I started playing at the age of six in a club that was already operating at professional level – FC Nantes, who have won the French league and Cup several times and taken part in the UEFA Champions League.
I was lucky to make my debut as a very young kid in this club. I moved up the ranks from youth categories to the academy alongside coaches who have left a mark on French football history – the likes of Jean-Claude Suaudeau and Raynald Denoueix. It was a period when a lot of big names were joining the club, including Didier Deschamps and Marcel Desailly.
And how about your professional journey to becoming FFF president and a member of the UEFA Executive Committee?
I studied law, and then moved to Paris to attend Sciences Po. I worked in communications, then at the French Parliament.
I also had extensive football knowledge, and a club president once told me, "We're in the process of creating an association designed to represent club presidents and shareholders and we would like you to run it." That's how I came to football as a professional activity in the early 1990s. It's still my occupation, having embraced many different and diverse positions.
I was part of the FIFA/UEFA delegation back in 2000 in charge of negotiating the transfer system with the European Commission. That's how I came to join the Dispute Resolution Chamber, of which I've been the unique adjudicator for many years now.
I also joined the executive board of the French Professional Football League.
Then, in 2021, I was elected to the French Football Federation before becoming the president in 2023 and becoming very rapidly, too, a member of the UEFA Executive Committee. So I have experience at club and federation level, as well as international bodies like UEFA and FIFA.
This broad experience must have given you an almost unique 360-degree view of the football world…
My journey has allowed me to develop comprehensive knowledge, as when you run a federation, your primary focus is set on non-professional football, training and national teams.
However, I worked with professional clubs for many years, within a professional league, where topics are different. Today in my position, having launched several reforms in France, it allows me to appreciate the concerns of professional clubs, including issues revolving around development and financial stability. I'm qualified for those topics now and I'm able to understand the general interest of football as a whole.
It means striking a balance between professional club football, which has its own requirements, and grassroots football, which is another important version of the game because that's where all players start.
How do you reflect on the challenges facing the game at the moment?
Football has arguably never been as popular as it is today. We owe this popularity to its universal appeal. Football is a game – and must remain one – with simple, easily understood rules applied consistently worldwide, regardless of the country or continent where it is played. We must ensure we preserve the very essence of its success: its ethics and its integrity.
At the same time, like all our activities, football must also confront the climate challenge. Across the globe, we are increasingly facing weather-related events that require constant adaptation. More and more pitches and activities are being affected by such events, whether drought, flooding, storms or winter rains.
Rather than simply accepting the situation with resignation, we must learn to transform a risk imposed upon us into a form of adaptation that is chosen, anticipated and prioritised. That is why the FFF recently launched a major study aimed at devising solutions that will allow us to continue playing our favourite sport while mitigating risks – whether direct (match cancellations, damage to infrastructure, health issues) or indirect (economic, insurance-related or regulatory).
Another major challenge facing us is the retention of volunteers and referees. Both groups are essential to the practice of our sport. Without them, there is no game.
"Football is a game – and must remain one – with simple, easily understood rules applied consistently worldwide."
You're also chair of the UEFA National Team Competitions Committee, which recently worked on a new concept for men's competitions post-2028. How do we ensure the game continues to evolve and why is that important?
Football is a fast-changing game. Fan, broadcaster and sponsor expectations also evolve and you always need to be attentive to new expectations.
UEFA launched a brainstorming process which took place all year long and which culminated in the acceptance of a new groundbreaking concept. For the first time in history, four-team groups will disappear, and we will implement something that's going to look like club competitions. I think it's a very positive development and I'm very hopeful that national team football becomes more modern and keeps evolving.
It's a real challenge to align all stakeholders, who have different requirements, within a very tough international schedule. National teams must find their place, because a healthy game requires both club and national team football. That's why I'm very happy with the new concept, since it doesn't add more fixtures, it doesn't clash with club competitions and it also brings about a more modern format that combines many strengths.
Is there any work you are most proud of since becoming FFF president?
I think the most important aspect is the desire to modernise French football. We've been achieving good results for a number of years, with teams that are working well, but football develops rapidly and we must adapt to that.
That's why I've created the three-tier women's professional football league that's under federation leadership and launched a third men's professional tier for the first time ever. That's really been a significant structuring initiative for our game.
We've carried out many other things, including a plan to engage more girls. I've set out an objective of 500,000 registered female players, double the current figure of 250,000.
"It's a real challenge to align all stakeholders, who have different requirements, within a very tough international schedule."
With the recent staging of the UEFA Futsal Champions League finals in 2025 and France's run to the semi-finals of this year's UEFA Futsal EURO, is that sport also becoming a major priority for the FFF?
I've set two priorities for French football: women's football and futsal, which appeals to a different group of young people and offers them a distinct, exciting version of the game.
It's played indoors, as opposed to football, and the growth potential in terms of registered members is high, but also at a financial level, since it's a bit different. Many goals are scored, it's very fast-paced, and I find that very interesting.
As a result, we've decided to implement a plan for futsal. We had around 35,000 registered players when we launched the plan; we now have 50,000. We've allocated significant financial and human resources in order to support the development of futsal.
How do you assess the strength of French club football with Paris now double Champions League winners and OL Lyonnes regular finalists in the Women's Champions League?
Last May, PSG achieved a historic feat by winning a second consecutive Champions League title while playing a brand of "total football" that captivated fans everywhere. Only Real Madrid had managed this feat in the 21st century, which puts the Parisian team's performance into perspective.
As for OL Lyonnes, after winning the women's competition eight times between 2011 and 2022, they have regained a collective strength that makes them contenders for the title every season.
Beyond PSG and OL Lyonnes, our clubs are particularly effective on the European stage. Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, and more recently Brest and Monaco – whether in the Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, or the UEFA Conference League – regularly shine.
However, paradoxically, our men's professional football is going through a difficult period due to low TV broadcasting revenues. That is why the FFF has initiated a major overhaul of professional football governance, designed to restore a sustainable vision and lay the essential groundwork for a future resurgence.
Finally, the French men's team is entering a new era under the leadership of Zinédine Zidane. What are your hopes for the future?
The French team demonstrates a level of consistency and stability at the highest level that many other countries envy, remaining in the top four of the FIFA world rankings since 2018. We owe this excellence to the work done by Didier Deschamps and his staff over the past 14 years.
While his mission is to maintain this high standard and win trophies, Zinédine Zidane has sought to mark a break with previous working methods. From the composition of the coaching staff – which has been completely overhauled – to the methodology, featuring a tight-knit squad where everyone gets playing time, and the very makeup of the team, with six players earning their first caps for Les Bleus during [October's] international break.
It is too early to draw definitive conclusions, but Zidane's opening steps at the helm of the national team in the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League are extremely promising. Ten points out of a possible 12, provisional top spot in the group, an exciting style of play and an infectious enthusiasm that leaves you eager to see what comes next.