Romuald Pretot: Pires and Giuly can join us

We asked the president of Footgolf France, Romuald Pretot about this year’s plans. More than one year ago there were no place to play the game, now they are going to host one of the stages of the European Footgolf Trophy Tour in May. Additionally, now it is more than rumours that Robert Pires and Ludovic Giuly can be ambassadors of footgolf.

What are the plans for this year?
Last year we have introduced Footgolf Cup in towns where are professional football clubs. We had this year’s first round two weeks ago, and the next one is going to held this weekend. After twelve stages it ends in October. On the mornings there are the competitions for individuals, and after that we have the team event. The best three individuals and teams qualify for the final, which will be on 10th October.

How many players go to these events?
We have between 50 and 100 footgolfers on every occasion. It can be more, when people come to us from abroad.

Can we say, these numbers are growing?
Of course. First of all we have to develop every part of the game, and we spend a lot of time working on it. At the beginning of last year there were no courses to play footgolf. Now, we have 15 courses, where you can play footgolf regularly, and we have 22 courses to play occasionally.

Are you preparing to host one of the stages of the European Footgolf Trophy Tour?
We are negotiating with one very famous golf course. In a few days I can tell which one is it. It’s a very nice place, and at the end of May there will be a lot of famous sportsmen.

A few retired professional football stars tried the sport in your country. Have you got new ones?
Jean-Pierre Papin, Sylvain Wiltord and the brazilian Valdo are ambassadors to develop the sport. We are negotiating right now with Robert Pires and Ludovic Giuly. In 2014 we had around 60 retired or active football players in the Footgolf Cup. We are trying to invite famous persons to every event. For example the next one will be Valentin Porte, the world champion handball player.

Why him, and not a football player?
It is important to say, footgolf is not for football players only. Everyone is welcomed. We want our footgolf courses to be opened for everybody who loves sport to have a good time. We had persons from judo, rugby and athletics also.

The next World Cup is coming soon. How do you prepare for this event?
Since we have our national tour, we are searching for the best players. We have fifteen footgolfers, who are part of the French team. Three of them played in Ligue One before. We are getting better and better, and it will be exciting to select the team, which will represent our country in the next World Cup in Argentina.