PARIS (AP) — Philippe Diallo has been elected to a new four-year term at the helm of the French soccer federation (FFF).
Diallo won 55% of the first-round voting, the federation said Saturday, to defeat challenger Pierre Samsonoff.
Diallo served as interim president after Noël Le Graët stepped down and was first elected in June 2023.
“Professional soccer is in crisis," Diallo said. “We need to put the pieces in place to help it bounce back. The FFF must provide the impetus. We want to ensure that French football is stronger in four years’ time, and that our projects become reality.”
French professional clubs are suffering from a loss in TV rights revenues.
Following the collapse of its record-breaking TV rights contract with Spanish-based broadcaster Mediapro four years ago, the league hoped it could get up to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) per year from the sale of broadcasting rights for 2024-29 but had to lower its target. In the end, the league settled for 500 million euros per year after sealing a late deal with British streaming platform DAZN and BeIN Sports.
Diallo also said that increasing the subsidies directed to amateur soccer is among his top priorities. He has set a target of 150 million euros in annual support.
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FILE - Philippe Diallo, French Football Federation President attends a training session of the French team in Paderborn, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Federal Police on Saturday arrested Gen. Walter Braga Netto, a former member of President Jair Bolsonaro’s Cabinet and his 2022 running mate, in connection with investigations into an alleged coup plot, the Supreme Court said in a statement.
Braga Netto was formally accused in November, along with Bolsonaro and 35 others, of plotting a coup to keep Bolsonaro in office following his failed 2022 reelection bid.
Prosecutors have yet to file formal charges against Braga Netto. The arrest made on Saturday stemmed from allegations of obstructing the collection of evidence, the Federal Police said in a statement.
The arrest request was authorized by the Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, with a favorable assessment from the Prosecutor-General's office.
A court statement said police formally requested the general to be preventively detained because its agents identified “robust evidence” that he sought to discover what a former Bolsonaro aide, who signed a plea bargain, was telling authorities.
Authorities also executed search and seizure warrants against Braga Netto and his aide, Col. Flávio Botelho Peregrino.
Braga Netto served as Bolsonaro’s chief of staff from 2020 to 2021 and as defense minister from 2021 to 2022.
His attorney did not respond to a request for comment. Previously, his legal team said they would wait to review police documents before making any statements.
In November, Brazil's Federal Police unsealed the final report of its investigation into the plan to keep Bolsonaro in office by overturning the election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022. Federal Police portray Braga Netto as one of the plot’s leaders, also involved in pressuring military leaders to sign onto the coup.
The 884-page document, substantiated by evidence and testimony, described a multi-step scheme. The plan included systematically sowing distrust of the electoral system among the populace, drafting a decree to give the plot a veneer of legal basis, pressuring top military brass to go along with the plan, and inciting a riot in the capital.
According to the investigation, the plan included a plot to assassinate Lula, vice-president-elect Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Investigators allege Braga Netto greenlit the assassination plan at a meeting with the plotters inside his home.
The assassination plan sought to leave Bolsonaro’s ticket as the only remaining valid one in the 2022 runoff, police said. De Moraes led a five-year probe into fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, which has led some far-right allies and supporters being barred from social media and even imprisoned.
The police report contains no indication that any attempt to assassinate Lula or Alckmin was put into motion. However, investigators found messages and documents indicating that the plotters were monitoring and following de Moraes at the time.
The Supreme Court's statement said the police had new evidence suggesting that Braga Netto was involved in securing and delivering financial resources for the coup plot.
Braga Netto, the former president and his main allies have denied any wrongdoing or involvement and accuse the authorities of political persecution.
FILE - Brazilian Defense Minister Walter Souza Braga Netto attends a ceremony honoring military athletes who participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Sept. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, File)
