towards the creation of a professional Ligue 3 in 2026

It was one of his campaign commitments during his re-election as president of the French Football Federation (FFF), in December 2024. Philippe Diallo officially announced his desire to create a professional Ligue 3 in 2026. This project , which aims to « transformer » the current National championship (3^e division), is “ a very important innovation that has been requested for a long time” by the seventeen clubs currently playing at this level, he declared Thursday January 16, after the FFF executive committee.

A working group, chaired by the president of the Strasbourg Racing club, Marc Keller, was set up to “ carry out work, consultations »with a “launch goal” during the 2026-2027 season, said Mr. Diallo.

He will therefore have a little more than one season to work on this project, which has been discussed for a long time. This “steering committee” brings together several personalities, such as the former president of Olympique Lyonnais, Jean-Michel Aulas, now vice-president of the FFF, and representatives of the National clubs, the national technical management, the players' unions, referees, coaches and the Professional Football League (LFP).

Philippe Diallo's ambition is to create a competition “attractive and sustainable”which will be under the aegis of the FFF (the federation already manages the National championship, unlike Ligues 1 and 2, under the control of the LFP). With one main challenge: finding an economic model that would allow the future Ligue 3 to establish itself in the French football landscape.

Among the potential financing levers, Mr. Diallo recalled that “the National is only broadcast by the means of production of the Federation”, implying that the sale of television rights to the competition, currently available free of charge on the FFFTV platform, could constitute a source of income.

A sort of “laboratory” of ideas

While today, some National clubs have professional status and others amateur, the project aims to find economic solutions so that all National teams can develop. The idea being in particular to allow clubs likely to move up to Ligue 2 to be better prepared – particularly financially – when they reach the next level.

A significant challenge. In May 2023, Mr. Diallo judged that the Ligue 3 project was not “not current”then emphasizing in The Team : “It’s not enough to say, “I want to be professional.” You have to be able to have the infrastructure, but also an economic environment that allows a professional club to exist. » The FFF today supports the National to the tune of 6.7 million euros.

Another common thread: Mr. Diallo wants this future league to be that of « l’innovation »he declared, imagining it as a kind of “laboratory” to ideas. Among them, the president of the FFF mentioned in particular the possibility of experimenting with “referees’ sound system”. Mr. Diallo also indicated that he wanted teams “with limited numbers”with “locally trained players”and respecting a « salary cap » to avoid financial mismanagement.

So many subjects that the working group chaired by Marc Keller will look into. If the search for the economic model will be his major subject, he will also be responsible for defining a competition format, regulatory rules (number of players, nature of contracts, etc.), the status of the clubs and the amount of financial allocations.

During his re-election at the head of the FFF, Mr. Diallo presented this Ligue 3 project as one of the elements likely to boost “the rebound of our professional football”after having drawn up the observation of a sector in « crisis ».