RMC: Zidane's annual salary is unlikely to be capped at €450,000 after he takes over the French national team.

According to RMC, Zinedine Zidane's annual salary is unlikely to be capped at €450,000 after he takes over the French national team.

After the French National Assembly and Senate passed the professional sports reform bill on Monday and Tuesday, the new bill, in addition to addressing the restructuring of French football and sparking a new round of disagreements between Vincent Labruna and Joseph Uguryan, also sets a salary cap for employees of sports leagues and associations.

Will this jeopardize Zidane's plans to take over the French national team after the 2026 World Cup? The answer is no. After being considered a successor to Deschamps, the attacking midfielder will receive an exemption approved by the Minister of Sports. Senator Michel Savin explained the supplementary clause included in the bill on Tuesday on RMC's "After Foot" program.

“The work done during the mixed committee phase was to amend some of the salary cap clauses previously passed by the National Assembly. The amendment passed by the National Assembly set the salary cap at three times the social security cap, which is about 12,000 euros before tax,” a member of parliament from Isère recalled on RMC’s After Foot program. “We were immediately reminded to be careful not to let French professional sports be further weakened.”

As a member of the parliamentary committee on the French sports and football reforms, Michel Savin later explained that even after lawmakers set salary caps, the relevant institutions still need to retain capable employees.

“It’s not just about head coaches, but also about other positions. If we want all associations and professional leagues, whether in football or other leagues, to have capable people with the qualifications and experience to match their responsibilities in key positions, then salaries must keep up,” the Senate rapporteur on the mixed committee’s reform proposal continued. “So Laurent Lafont and I went back to talking to the members of parliament and told them that we had to raise the original cap. So we raised it to 450,000 euros a year.”

For employees earning an annual salary exceeding €450,000, some employees of major French associations or leagues require government approval. Zidane may also be subject to this clause… however, strictly speaking, it's not about him personally, but rather about the future position of the French national team coach.

“Each association president can apply to the Minister of Sports for approval for certain positions. This is not directed at any one person,” Michel Savan added on the RMC program. “We are not talking about individuals…we are talking about certain positions, given the responsibilities and tasks they undertake, where the salary should exceed 450,000 euros.”

The senator also emphasized: "Ministers do not have the power to select head coaches! It is not the ministers who select head coaches. Let me repeat, the president of a league or association may apply to the minister for an exemption from the €450,000 salary cap for certain positions, based on economic and professional standards. The annual salary of a league's general manager can very well exceed €450,000. This is not only true in football."