SoccerBlogs

Here's an announcement we certainly weren't expecting, especially considering that MLS has never before partnered with anything France prior to today. According to a press release sent out early this morning, Major League Soccer and the French Football Federation have entered into a strategic partnership which will allow MLS academy coaches to get 16 months worth of French-European academy training.

Swansea City have been left stunned by FIFA's decision to deny international clearance for the signings of Darnel Situ and Rafik Halliche.

Swansea had agreed a £250,000 transfer fee to sign Situ from Lens, as well as a loan deal for Fulham defender Halliche, on transfer deadline day.

On Friday, the French Football Federation announced that it would ban the wearing of hijab during all organized competitions held in France. The Federation declared that in doing so it was fulfilling it's "duty to respect the constitutional and legislative principles of secularism that prevails in our country and features in its statutes.

On Friday, the French Football Federation announced that it would ban the wearing of veils during all organized competitions held in France. The Federation declared that in doing so it was fulfilling it's "duty to respect the constitutional and legislative principles of secularism that prevails in our country and features in its statutes.

A tremendous game today: the polar opposite of U.S.-Brazil, and indeed of France-England, but as riveting in it's way. That was a relief, since I'm not sure I could have handled the kinds of emotional ups and downs that this past weekend delivered. Tonight, instead of the drama of confusing calls and the absurdity of penalty kicks, we had a clean, flowing game, one won through determined and brilliant play-making by the U.

Watching the France-Canada game of the Women's World Cup yesterday, I was exhilarated by the playing of the French side. Their dominance in the game was a surprise to many, and to me, and also a little ghostly: suddenly, I was watching the sort of flowing, graceful, entertaining French football which for the past years had existed mainly in my imagination.

Arsenal Close to Sealing Giroud Deal

French international striker Olivier Giroud is on the verge of completing his £12 million deal from Montpellier to Arsenal. (BBC)

The 25-year-old frontman, who scored 21 goals in Montpellier's Ligue 1 triumph last season, is being tipped to complete his move to Emirates Stadium in the next few days.

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.

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.

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.

There is just no end to the toxic storm which encircles the French national team. After seemingly breaking from the dysfunction which defined their World Cup 2010 campaign, Euro 2012 was to be their fresh new start under the fresh new Laurent Blanc regime. Yeah, didn't happen.

This article titled "The Joy of Six: classic European Championship matches" was written by Scott Murray and Rob Smyth, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 8th June 2012 10.02 UTC

Like the World Cup before it, the European Nations Cup was fathered by a Frenchman.

Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna has undergone successful surgery on his broken leg and is expected to be sidelined for a minimum of three months.

The France international suffered the injury during the Gunners' 2-1 defeat to North London rivals Tottenham on Sunday.

The French Football Federation revealed later that evening that the defender was set to be ruled out of action for around 12 weeks.

Tickets for the U.S. Men's National Team match vs. France are now available online through the French Football Federation Website. While the website is in French, you can change the language to English at the bottom left hand corner of the page.

For U.S. fans, the visiting supporters section is located in the South Stand - and tickets are only 10 euros!

- Maxi Rodriguez

The French Football Federation's racial quotas are such a fascinating topic, in large part because it's such a unique demonstration of prejudice. Racism, unfortunately, is not an issue alien to the footballing world. Fascist ultras, shaven-head neo-nazis, and primate imagery are all familiar territory for football fans.