Timing was decisive: the French Federation keeps Zidane's secret

Zinedine Zidane

Former Real Madrid coach closes in on leading France

The French Football Federation got ahead of the professional sports governance law by signing Les Bleus legend Zinedine Zidane to coach the senior national team before it came into force.

That law turns the French Football League (LFP) into a "company of clubs" and lays down a number of provisions, among them the salaries of officials and staff in sports federations.

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On 8 July this year, the joint committee between the Senate and the National Assembly set a salary ceiling of 450,000 euros in total per year, in line with the maximum applied to the "chairman of the board of a public institution of an industrial and commercial nature".

The National Assembly and the Senate then officially adopted the text on 20 and 21 July.

Although the law does allow the ceiling to be exceeded through an exception granted by the Ministry of Sport, the French Federation won't need it. Zidane's contract was signed before the law was finally ratified.

That means the Federation won't have to ask the Ministry for an exception to go beyond the permitted limit, even though Zidane's salary far surpasses it. It also keeps the former Juventus and Real Madrid player's wages confidential.

French Minister of Sport Marina Ferrari said: "The Federation has substantial financial resources of its own, and does not depend on the Ministry of Sport."

The Federation could have sought the supervising Ministry's opinion on the matter but chose not to, especially as Ferrari confirmed more than once that she had no wish to intervene.

Zidane's appointment will be announced officially on Tuesday 28 July, at a press conference at the Federation's headquarters. The executive board are set to meet that morning to confirm the choice of president Philippe Diallo, according to the French newspaper "L'Équipe".