By Chris Wright

The FFF have today announced that Lens' Venezuelan defender Gabriel Cichero will not be allowed to play again until March 15th 2011 after being caught on CCTV assaulting Bastia director Alain Seghi in the tunnel following a match in the French second division on October 15th.

By Ulysse Pasquier

Les Bleus wrapped up 2011 with a 0-0 draw at home against Belgium, an unconvincing performance that unsettled many critics in France. Just over a year since taking the top seat, the grace period and overall optimism linked to Laurent Blanc's appointment have clearly evaporated.

It has been confirmed that a knee injury will rule Manchester City's French midfielder Samir Nasri out of Friday night's high-profile exhibition against the United States at Stade de France.

Nasri suffered from issues with his knee tendon following City's UEFA Champions League win over Villarreal last week and did not make his club's starting line-up for the thrilling 3-2 Premier League triumph over QPR on Saturday.

Live women's football matches will be broadcast for the first time in France as of next season, the French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet said Thursday after selling the rights to France Television and Eurosport.

Here's, the FFF-produced video for the French women's national team:
Yikes. I mean, parts of it are cute, I guess. But not so much the parts where individual members of the team lip sync.
Members of the national team also posed nude in 2009, for an FFF campaign with the lovely slogan, "Do we have to show up like this, in order for you to come see us play?

Europe is treading clumsily where America has learned not to tread long ago.
The recent row over the possibility of quotas of non-black players in France's national football academies showed how Europeans still do not 'get' race and are prone to reflex comments of xenophobia and maybe worse.

Europe is treading clumsily where America has learned not to tread long ago.
The recent row over the possibility of quotas of non-black players in France's national football academies showed how Europeans still do not 'get' race and are prone to reflex comments of xenophobia and maybe worse.

With a rapidity uncharacteristic of the French state, the FFF racism scandal has already run it's predictable course: from outrage to self-exoneration. Yesterday, the French minister of sport Chantal Jouanno announced that no laws had been broken and therefore no specific legal or administrative action needed to take place.

Laurent Blanc has today been cleared of any wrongdoing in the ongoing race scandal that is threatening to tear the French Football Federation apart. Race scandal? Yeah, you know, the race scandal in French football? You don't know?! What a surprise.

Allow me. There has been a massive uproar in France this past week about the fact that a French website reported that members of the FFF's technical board had met in November and discussed introducing race quotas at French football academies.

By CALEB SONNELAND

French national team manager Laurent Blanc today has been cleared of racism charges by the French Football Federation.

Claims that Blanc had backed a project to reduce the number of ethnic minority players in the national set-up put the Frenchman under the spotlight.

By Ulysse Pasquier, writing from Montreal

It seems as though a lot has changed in French Football since the Domenechian World Cup debacle. Laurent Blanc's inspiring ideology has brought the best out of players who want to play football and are eager to represent their country.

By Ulysse Pasquier, writing from Montreal

It seems as though a lot has changed in French Football since the Domenechian World Cup debacle. Laurent Blanc's inspiring ideology has brought the best out of players who want to play football and are eager to represent their country.

An investigative report by the Mediapart website revealed that numerous managers of the National Technical Directorate (DTN) and the French Football Federation (FFF) approved the "principle of discriminatory quotas" in November 2010. Their objective? To limit the number of players of West African and North African origin.

By FRANCO PANIZO

If Jose Mourinho didn't receive enough punishment by seeing Real Madrid bounced out of the Champions League by arch-rival Barcelona, he surely has now.

Mourinho was handed a five-match suspension and fined about $81,000 by UEFA for his sending off during the first leg of the Champions League semifinal against Barcelona.

The last few days have offered some new and crucial details in the story of racism at the French Football Federation. The initial reaction by those implicated, including Laurent Blanc, was to deny that they had said what Mediapart accused them of saying. But they rapidly backtracked, perhaps because they had realized that in fact the blog had access to a tape-recording of the entire meeting, from late 2010, in which the idea of the need for "quotas" aimed at limiting certain kinds of youth players was discussed.

So French football was hit with something of a scandal last year with the whole 'underage hooker' thing and a few of its higher profile players. Only a few, if that, which rose to the surface. And granted, architectural Europe is not lacking for women in the nude in any way, therefore the percentages of such are significantly greater than elsewhere.

Drawing from an AP story, the FFF "inquiry" is underway.

There have been "claims" that France National Team Manager Laurent Blanc secretly agreed on a quota restricting the number of black and Arab players in national training programs.

The website Mediapart printed a strange, obviously sensationalized account of rampant racism within the FFF, which was immediately followed by an FFF statement that the FFF had been concerned about dual nationals making themselves unavailable for selection for the national team by choosing to play for another country.

The French Football Federation has issued a communiqué by Laurent Blanc in response to the allegations published last week by Mediapart about the existence of a plan to limit the numbers of "black and Arab" football players within the national youth system. It's a rather strange statement. Blanc, who initially issued a blanket denial about everything attributed to him in the article, now seems to be admitting that he did participate in a discussion about the topic of players who might have the possibility of playing for other national teams, and more broadly about the issue of the style of play being developed within the youth system.

French Football Federation (FFF) technical director François Blaquart has been suspended by the French Government pending an investigation following his statement that the FFF is concerned about investing in training players who make themselves unavailable for selection for the French national team by choosing to play for another country.

The coming week will presumably bring more twists and turns in the now explosive question of racism in the midst of the French Football Federation. Already, as Libération reported this morning, one high-ranking member of the Federation specifically named in the Mediapart article that broke has been suspended, and an internal investigation launched.

Since the Guardian, which is a daily read for me, has put the story front and center, I suppose I could risk a short post on the alleged racism in the French Football Federation (FFF).

The allegation is that the FFF discussed using race as a selection criterion for entry of 12 and 13 year olds into football training academies.

Should these allegations prove true, the French Football Federation is in for heaps and heaps of trouble, one might expect.

A report was released detailing that the FFF supposedly imposed an "ethnic quota" on club trainees, meaning that no club could have more than 30% of those 12 or older to be of Arab or African descent.

Should these allegations prove true, the French Football Federation is in for heaps and heaps of trouble, one might expect.

A report was released detailing that the FFF supposedly imposed an "ethnic quota" on club trainees, meaning that no club could have more than 30% of those 12 or older to be of Arab or African descent.

A Mediapart article was released today stating that there has been an institutionalized racial discrimination setup in the training of French players for years and collusion between the FFF and former NT coach Laurent Blanc. The claim states that the FFF set a limit of 30% on black and north African decent players in the national training program and this limit was implemented as players reached
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Off The Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories.

This week, the FFF suspended a village club president after a comical bid for Lionel Messi, Atletico's "not a single ball to the blonde" campaign, a 13-year-old fan takes Reading to court for selling his favourite player and footballers are scientific geniuses.

Let's establish something: there isn't a club in the world which doesn't want Lionel Messi even Real Madrid.

Another fact, perhaps a few levels below: no one can get Messi.

That didn't stop a French club president from trying, in jest, and being rebuffed with a six month suspension for his chuckling troubles.

Nike and the Fédération Française de Football have officially launched the France 2011/12 away jersey. Its unveiling follows the January unveiling of the France Nike 2011/12 home kit. Similar in design to the France Nike 2011/12 home goalkeeper shirt, the new Les Bleus away jersey features a sailor theme that the FFF says celebrates the country's [.

Nike and the Fédération Française de Football have officially launched the France 2011/12 away jersey. Its unveiling follows the January unveiling of the France Nike 2011/12 home kit. Similar in design to the France Nike 2011/12 home goalkeeper shirt, the new Les Bleus away jersey features a sailor theme that the FFF says celebrates the country's [.

On Monday, American sportswear giant Nike announced its partnership with the French Football Federation. As part of the announcement, the France Nike 2011/12 home kit was officially launched with a massive media campaign involving a high-tech presentation, TV spots, YouTube videos, Facebook coverage and a dedicated website.

PARIS — France coach Laurent Blanc on Monday expressed his dismay that the new multi-million euro France kit makes Les Bleus look too much like their Italian rivals. "I find that the completely blue jersey is beautiful but a bit Italian," said Blanc after US sports apparel giants Nike unveiled the new kit in Paris.

PARIS Nike announced its partnership with the French Football Federation today at the Espace Cambon, unveiling the new team kits with French players Abou Diaby, Alou Diarra, Florent Malouda and Yann MVila, France Coach Laurent Blanc and NIKE, Inc. President and CEO, Mark Parker. The elegantly designed kits combine French style and tradition with Nike [.