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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