After the women's football revolution, why not the mixed football revolution? It is in any case the bet made by a handful of pioneers who compete on weeknights on the grounds of the capital and the suburbs. Since September 2019, a mixed football championship has been launched by the Sports and Gymnastics Federation (FSGT). An initiative that marks the true starting point of a discipline hitherto completely new in France.
For the first official steps, the FSGT first bet on 7-a-side football, just to get your hands on it and see how football between boys and girls takes. The rule is simple: each team must consist of three boys and three girls and a goalkeeper who can be of one sex or the other.
On this Thursday in January, despite the cold, despite the strikes, the two teams from Paris-Arc-en-Ciel and The Team, an association of expatriates, met at the Louis-Lumière stadium, in the XXth arrondissement. The only issue here is pleasure. Upon arrival, the stadium guard gives a key to the only cloakroom. The girls of the two teams start by changing then it is the boys' turn.
"In women's games, it's more noisy"
On the field, the two teams compete for about an hour. First surprise, the game is relatively fluid and goes from one goal to another. Second surprise, the girls go there much more in duels than the boys, who are more in restraint. “It's funny to see that they are afraid of hurting us, laughs Manon (28), a footballer for ten years. In women's matches, it's more noisy. With the boys, it is ultimately quiet. "
In a rather pleasant encounter, the two teams split on a parity score (2-2). Three goals were scored by the boys and one by Manon. In the field, mixed football is almost accessible to everyone, regardless of age. If the vast majority of practitioners are in their thirties, Farida (54) is part of it. "I discovered football a year ago," she explains. I have done a lot of sports and this is the one I prefer. "
Same story for boys, like Othmane: “It is a pleasure to play with girls because the game is less physical than with boys. It's much more technical. We find the pleasure of the game. "Cécile (31), who has gone through handball, says:" Mixed football is very similar to women's football. Girls progress faster than when they play with each other. "
11-a-side football
So it's win-win. As Elizabeth, an American, who played until the 3rd division of the university championship, explains. “Mixed football exists at home. It is even fairly widespread. I have friends in Australia who tell me the same thing. Recently in American D3, Italian Alessandro Del Piero allowed two women to play in the men's team of LA 10 FC, which he coaches.
So does mixed football have a future? For the French Federation (FFF), it's no. " It's too dangerous. It should not be forgotten that football is a contact sport. Men have more power than women. Shocks can cause great damage, ”said the side of the body.
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For Adrien Fulda (29), at the initiative of this approach at the FSGT, by creating the very first mixed football club, the Sportif.v.es, “this discipline is only in its infancy. We have around sixty members for the first five football teams at 7 and eighty for ten teams in football at 5. Football at 11 will follow soon. The future is national and even international competitions. It goes in the direction of history. It is also a good way to fight against all forms of discrimination. »So when will a French mixed football team?
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