FFF confirms its intentions to create Ligue 3 | OneFootball

French football’s third-tier will undergo sweeping changes in the coming years. At Thursday’s executive committee meeting in Paris, the Fédération of French Football (FFF) confirmed its desire to create Ligue 3, a professional competition to replace the Championnat National.

FFF president Philippe Diallo confirmed the news, telling L’Équipe: “Marc Keller, accompanied by a group of elected representatives, will conduct work, consultations, to transform the National 1 into a professional Ligue 3 within the French Football Federation, a very important innovation requested for a long time by the clubs participating in the National, with a launch objective in 2026-2027.”

Diallo says that he wants the competition to be innovative, adding that this current championship is broadcast only by the federation’s means of production. That suggests that the TV rights for that competition could get some financing when Ligue 3 officially commences.

The hope is that the creation of this league can become attractive and sustainable and that it will be contested by players primarily developed locally. Diallo adds that he would give those in that organisation carte blanche when it comes to innovation.

There are 18 clubs competing in the Championnat National 1, with AS Nancy leading the table at the moment and Boulogne in the other automatic promotion place.

While never directly opposing the thought of a Ligue 3, the current president of the LFP, Vincent Labrune, previously warned that such a project would not receive financial support.

This new initiative would include a salary cap for all the teams competing to avoid financial gains, while each club would have limited staff.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre