France Cricket faces power struggle as government backing hangs in the balance

France Cricket is set to lose the right to field teams and organise championships as of January 1, just six months after celebrating a seat on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Chief Executives’ Committee.

An ICC member since 1998, France Cricket has official status only because of a deal with the French Baseball and Softball Federation (FFBS), a partnership that expires at the end of this month.

On its own, France Cricket isn’t eligible to be the official national authority for the sport because it lacks even basic government recognition, known as agrément.

Just last July, France Cricket was cheering its rise on the world stage.

“Congratulations monsieur Gurumurthy Palani!” read an Instagram post, announcing the election of France Cricket’s new vice president to the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee. It was a major boon for France Cricket after years of controversy.

Now, a new challenger has stepped onto the field.

Révolution

In 2023, FRANCE 24 exposed accusations of mismanagement, including “ghost matches” allegedly staged to meet ICC requirements for funding.

Following the revelations, at least 18 dissident clubs joined ASPTT, an umbrella federation housing dozens of small sports.

Read moreAllegations of fake matches, murky finances plague cricket in France

ASPTT applied for the ministry’s mandate to run cricket in France by the June deadline and has notified the ICC that it is awaiting the government’s decision.

According to a source within the ministry, ASPTT was the only applicant for the mandate, and France Cricket did not apply because it lacks agrément.

Rebel clubs had called for an investigation into France Cricket over the ghost matches scandal, and in January 2024, the sports ministry responded, saying they would be “examining the situation”.

Contacted by FRANCE 24, the ministry did not confirm if this examination ever took place. It did, however, say that the cricket delegation “could change” on January 1.

ASPTT is perhaps an unlikely match for cricket. It started as a cycling club for postal workers in 1898 before organising sports for state telecoms employees. It has more than 200,000 members practising everything from parkour to pétanque.

While the ASPTT waits in the wings, the relationship between France Cricket and the FFBS has reached its end.

Behind the breakup

When France Cricket joined the ICC in 1998, government backing was not an explicit membership requirement.

The French government delegated cricket to the FFBS in 2005, and since at least 2012, France Cricket has acted as the national governing body within that structure.

Their latest agreement, signed in 2022, was designed as a transition toward independence, allowing France Cricket to take over functions like licensing while it worked on securing the ministry’s agrément by 2026.

In a written response to FRANCE 24, the FFBS confirmed it would not seek to renew its cricket delegation and that its agreement with France Cricket would expire on December 31.

France Cricket documents show it threatening legal action in June 2024 “after a last attempt to find conciliation with FFBS”, frustrated over what it viewed as insufficient support for securing more recognition and funding.

FFBS President Didier Séminet said the decision to part ways followed a “strategic and institutional analysis” and that the conditions were no longer in place to run cricket in line with government standards.

Sources close to the FFBS said the emergence of allegations against France Cricket reinforced its decision to step away.

Dog days

ICC financing is worth hundreds of thousands of euros a year to France Cricket, accounting for most of its budget. The funding requires activity reports, such as the number of pitches and regular players.

FRANCE 24 previously documented women’s matches that were logged but appeared not to have taken place.

Read moreFrench women’s cricket team disbands after probe into fake matches

France Cricket announced a new women’s cricket initiative on June 25 this year, with its stated intention to “encourage as many women as possible to play cricket”.

But clubs are finding it hard to fulfil this vision.

Between July 22 and the end of the season, the calendar of women’s fixtures was modified at least nine times. The season was even prolonged by two months.

Despite these efforts, clubs were still fined €6,750 for 22 invalid matches, mostly women’s or juniors’ fixtures that never happened because of missing players or umpires.

That’s small change for France Cricket, but a burden for clubs struggling to field the teams their governing body needs to justify its funding requests.

The first matchday of the new women’s season was set for June 28. Three matches were scheduled to take place in Grigny, south of Paris, on a sports ground nestled between an industrial estate and woodland enclosing one of Europe’s largest prisons, Fleury-Mérogis.

Before the 2pm start time, only men were playing on the wicket. They continued to play past 2:30pm, with not a female cricketer in sight.

Meanwhile, other men with dogs emerged from the sports pavilion near the pitch and began patrolling the edge of the field. It’s not clear who they were, or whether they were connected to the players present or to France Cricket.

“Hunt! Hunt!”, one shouted, as the dogs caught a scent in the bushes.

By June 30, the women’s fixtures that were meant to take place in Grigny had been moved to a different ground on August 8, without explanation. These matches were subsequently verified as completed by France Cricket.

Decision time for the ICC

ICC requirements state that associate members must have “appropriate status, structure and recognition”, and can prove this with a letter of support from the national government, though the ICC retains “absolute discretion”.

The ICC has suspended Associate Members before, famously the United States, but has never publicly invoked the clause on government recognition.

The ICC did not respond to a request for comment.

In a 2023 statement, France Cricket said it had “never committed the slightest ‘fraudulent act’”. It did not respond when asked to comment for this article. But all signs suggest it doesn’t plan on going anywhere.

Board meeting notes claim the ICC is “currently studying” France Cricket’s proposal to host the 2026 ICC General Assembly in Paris. The documents also show that France Cricket is still pursuing agrément; having had one application rejected on March 10, it sent a second on August 11. And in January, it plans to cut the ribbon on a new headquarters on a state-owned site in Mennecy, south of Paris.

Earlier this month, France Cricket hosted the second meeting of the European Cricket Association (ECA), an independent body not officially linked to the ICC, which announced plans for a Euro T20 Club Champions Trophy in 2026. France Cricket Vice President Gurumurthy Palani was also elected vice president of the ECA.

Its inaugural tournament could offer France Cricket a route to international competition outside ICC structures. But without the ministry’s backing, it would have no legal authority to designate an official national club champion.

National teams on borrowed time

Despite the uncertainty surrounding its national status, France has been listed by the ICC as taking part in upcoming international competitions: in May, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe A Qualifier, and in July, the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Europe Division 2 Qualifier.

A new women’s national team from the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia competed locally in March, but not in the latest Women’s T20 World Cup qualifiers.

The former women’s national team, which topped their division in World Cup qualifiers two years ago, was disbanded after calling for an investigation into the allegations surrounding France Cricket.

Read moreFrance Cricket saga: Defeat for the remade women’s national team in New Caledonia

Until the French government makes a decision, come January 1, anyone fielding “France” teams, awarding national titles, or calling themselves the “Fédération française de cricket” – as is emblazoned on France Cricket’s Instagram – risks sanction under the country’s code of sports.

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