French Sport
Sport plays an important role in French society and the country has a strong sporting history. The most-watched sport in France is football, which is unquestionably the most popular sport in France. Other major sports include rugby union (South West of France), handball, basketball, cycling, sailing, tennis, alpine skiing but also swimming and athletics. The national stadium is the Stade de France.
Football
Football is the most popular sport in France. The Fédération Française de Football is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of football in the country, both professional and amateur. The federation organizes the Coupe de France and is responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's and youth national football teams in France. The federation gives responsibility of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to the Ligue de Football Professionnel who oversee, organize, and manage the country's top two leagues. The LFP is also responsible for organizing the Coupe de la Ligue, the country's league cup competition. The French Football Federation also supervises the overseas departments and territories leagues and hosts football club AS Monaco, a club from the independent sovereign state of Monaco. In 2006, the FFF had 2,143,688 licenses, with over 1,850,836 registered players and 18,194 registered clubs.
The first football club was introduced to France in 1863 by British immigrants as described in a newspaper article by The Scotsman, which stated "A number of English gentlemen living in Paris have lately organised a football club... The football contests take place in the Bois de Boulogne, by permission of the authorities and surprise the French amazingly. "Modern football was introduced nine years later in 1872 by English sailors playing in Le Havre in 1872.
Motorsport
France has various domestic racing series, none of which are of major international importance. However, it holds an annual Ice racing Championship at the end of each year, called the Andros Trophy. High profile past champions include Formula One driver Alain Prost, and current World Touring Car Championship driver and 2003 British Touring Car Championship Champion Yvan Muller.
France has held a round of the Formula One Championship at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (Magny-Cours) since 1991, but a round of Formula One at different tracks since 1950. There have been several high profile French Formula One drivers, but only one world champion - Alain Prost.
As of 2008, France has five FIA World Champions; Alain Prost (Formula One), Jean-Louis Schlesser (World Sportscar Championship), Yannick Dalmas (World Sportscar Championship), Didier Auriol (WRC), Sébastien Loeb (WRC) and Yvan Muller (World Touring Car Championship).
Handball
There are over 350,000 licensed handball players in France, and the handball national team is one of the most watched and supported along with the football teams. The French National team is currently European Champion and World Champion. They also won the 2008 Olympic Games Tournament.
Basketball
Basketball is also a popular team sport with 447,942 licensed players (2005 statistic). The sport is governed by Fédération Française de Basket-Ball (FFBB; French Basketball Federation), which operates professional leagues for both men and women. The men's Ligue Nationale de Basketball has two levels, Pro A and Pro B. Pro A sends nine teams into continent-wide club competitions each season—three to the top-level Euroleague (one directly into the Regular Season phase, and two into the competition's qualifying rounds), three to the second-level Eurocup, and three to the third-level EuroChallenge. The women's Ligue Féminine de Basketball operates as a single league of 14 teams. In 2009–10, the league sent four teams to EuroLeague Women, the women's equivalent of the Euroleague.
As of the 2008-09 NBA season, 14 French citizens have played in the NBA in the USA and Canada. Eleven are currently playing, most notably San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, with three NBA titles to his credit; Charlotte Bobcats forward Boris Diaw; and Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah, also notable for his college career at the University of Florida in which he starred on a team that won two NCAA titles with the same starting lineup.
The sport has overtaken rugby union in terms of licenced players, implying that basketball might have surpassed it's popularity in France.
Rugby union
Rugby union was first introduced in the early 1870s by British residents. While football is much more popular nationally, rugby union is predominant around Toulouse, the French Basque country and Catalonia. Elite French clubs participate in the domestic club competition - the Top 14. Clubs also compete in the European knock-out competition, the Heineken Cup. It is the ninth largest French team sport in the terms of licensed players with 262,000 licensed players (2007).
The national side competes annually in the Six Nations Championship. France has been to every Rugby World Cup since its inception in 1987, and has been a runner-up on two occasions. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Rugby league
Rugby league (rugby à 13 or jeu à 13) has been played in France since the 1930s. As with rugby union, the heartland of the game is the south of the country. Catalans Dragons are a rugby league team based in Perpignan, and are currently the only French team to compete in the top tier of European rugby league, the Super League. Toulouse Olympique are the only French team to compete in the second tier of European rugby league, the Co-operative Championship.
Tennis
Tennis is the second most popular French sport in terms of the number of licensed players with 1,054,513 licensed tennis players in France (2005). France holds the tennis Grand Slam tournament Roland Garros. France's current stars include Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marion Bartoli, and Aravane Rezai. Other stars from the past include Yannick Noah, Amelie Mauresmo, and Mary Pierce.
Cycling
France holds the annual cycling race Tour de France, which takes place each July and lasts for three weeks which has been won by 21 different french cyclists in it's 96 year history.
Sailing
Professional sailing in France is centered on singlehanded/shorthanded ocean racing with the pinnacle of this branch of the sport being the Vendee Globe singlehanded around the world race which starts every 4 years from the French Atlantic coast. Other significant events include the Solitaire du Figaro, Mini Transat 6.50, Tour de France a Voile and Route de Rhum transatlantic race. France has been a regular competitor in the Americas Cup since 1998.
Pétanque
Pétanque is mostly played in the South of France. Pétanque is not considered as a sport by many northern Frenchmen though the international federation is recognized by the IOC. Professional players play the very competitive form of Pétanque which is called Pétanque Sport, under precise rules. The competitive form is played by about 480,000 persons licensed with the Federation Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (FFPJP). The FFPJP is the 4th largest sports federation in France.said pa-tonk
Parkour
Developed in France, parkour ("art du déplacement") is a physical activity that is difficult to categorize. It is an art that resembles self-defense and martial arts. According to the founder David Belle, the spirit of parkour is guided in part by the notions of "escape" and "reach," that is, the idea of using quick thinking with dexterity to get out of difficult situations.
An important characteristic of parkour is efficiency. The basic meaning of this is that a traceur must not merely move as fast as he can, but move in a way that is the least energy-consuming and simultaneously the most direct. In addition, since parkour's unofficial motto is être et durer (to be and to last), efficiency also involves avoiding injuries, short and long-term.
Table football
Table football (babyfoot) is a very popular pastime in bars and in homes in France, and the French are the predominant winners of worldwide table football competitions.
Orienteering
Orienteering is a reasonably popular sport in France; it is regulated by the Fédération Française de Course d'Orientation (FFCO) .
Cricket
Cricket is a developing sport is France. Some reports point that cricket was invented in France. However, the sport is relatively unknown due to inadequate media coverage. In fact, the 1900 Olympic games, the only one where cricket was played, featured bitter rivals England and France taking on each other. A rematch of the two teams is said to take place just before the 2012 Olympics.
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