France star Kadidiatou Diani slams ‘lack of professionalism’ in national team

Kadidiatou Diani has hit out at the ‘lack of professionalism’ in the French national team set-up and said players struggled to get access to medical treatment in her first interview since stepping away from international football.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Diani followed captain Wendie Renard and Marie Antoinette Katoto by refusing to play for France until further notice with just five months to go until this summer’s World Cup.

There have been issues between players and manager Corinne Diacre for some time and the future of the Les Bleus boss is uncertain.

Noel Le Graet, a big supporter of Diacre, resigned as president of the French Football Federation last week, one month after he was suspended following allegations of sexual abuse.

The Executive Committee of the FFF met on February 28 and acting president Philippe Diallo formed a commission of four members – Laura Georges, Aline Riera, Jean-Michel Aulas and Marc Keller – to report on the current situation and to establish a list of recommendations and decisions.

Captain Wendie Renard suspended her international career and said she won’t play in the World Cup

Diani is the first player to come out to give a detailed interview on the many issues players had with both their manager and the set-up of the French national team.

The forward criticised training sessions as well as the access players had to medical treatment.

‘It’s important to have something new because the girls can’t take it anymore,’ Diani told French TV station Telefoot.

‘I find that we really lack professionalism in the France team, the staff is quite limited today.

‘It is the coach who decides [training] there is no assistant coach or specific coach for the attackers when I would really like to work in the goal.

‘At the beginning, access to care was almost forbidden. You really had to be injured to be entitled to a massage or a normal treatment session like you could have in a club. It is not normal.’

Diacre has fallen out with several players over the years. She stripped Renard of the captanicy in 2017 before handing it back to the Lyon defender after a fall-out with Amandine Henry in 2020. Goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi also decided to ‘indefinitely retire’ in 2019.

Renard fell out with manager Corinne Diacre and the trio are unhappy with the team’s set-up

Diani says the French players have ‘reached a point of no return’ and that the FFF ‘must make changes’

In 2020, Henry revealed what had unfolded in the French camp at the 2019 World Cup.

‘I saw players crying in their rooms,’ Henry said. ‘I personally cried in my room sometimes. I wanted to enjoy the World Cup, but in the end, it was total chaos.’

Renard has said she would not play at this summer’s World Cup to protect her mental health because her ‘heart was suffering’.

France have failed to reach a major final since Diacre took over in 2017. They were beaten in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup and lost to Germany in the semi-finals of the Euros.

Diacre signed a new contract until 2024 in August but could be forced out by next week. Former Lyon manager and current PSG boss Gerard Precheur is the favourite to take over, should Diacre be sacked or resign.