One can find several sports in France that professionals and general citizens alike play. The French people’s favorite sport is football, and other popular sports in France include tennis, handball, basketball, cycling, motor sport, sailing and rugby union.

Football in France

Football has been played in France for more than a hundred years. The first football club in France was established in the year 1863 by a group of English enthusiasts. The English were active in further promoting football in France and it later became the favorite sport of France.

Football is administered by the Football Federation of France (FFF). The Football Federation of France is responsible for selecting football teams for both men’s and women’s national and international matches. At the domestic level, the Professional football league system looks after the training and selection of professional players. The Ligue de Football Professionnel has three top levels, namely: Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and National. Further, these levels are subdivided based on regions and the types of players. The National Ligue gives admissions to amateurs and professionals, thereby giving a chance to recruit new talents.

Basketball in France

It is one of the popular sports in France with over 500,000 professional players of the sport registered with the Basketball Federation of France. The Federation further operates through Ligue Nationale de Basketball which is the professional basketball league for men and women. The men’s Ligue has nine teams which are divided into two levels: Pro A and Pro B. The women’s Ligue has fourteen teams under a single level that, like the men’s Ligue, play in different competitions throughout Europe.

The French basketball players have been shinning in the NBA tournaments in the US and Canada from quite sometime. In the year 2008-09 there are around nine players from France who are playing for the NBA, with Tony Parker having added three NBA titles to his credit.

Motor sport in France

One of the most popular sports of France is motor sport. In fact, the French hosted the Formula One Championship in 1991. France has several series of motor racing at different periods of the year that help the professionals to test their talent.

The world champions from France that have won championships in near future include: Alain Prost who has been a champion in the Formula One, Jean-Louis Schlesser has won the World Sports car Championship, and DidierAuriol and Sebastien Loeb, who won the World Rally Championship.