Clairefontaine

The Centre National Fernand- Sastre technique ( CTNFS ) is the power center of the French Football Federation ( FFF). After the village of Clairefontaine -en -Yvelines, about 50 km southwest of Paris, in whose bounds the facility is located, it is often just referred to as Clairefontaine.

Claire Fontaine was opened on 4 January 1988 and inaugurated on June 11, 1988 by the then President François Mitterrand. Was preceded since 1972 the initiative of the president Fernand Sastre FFF to build a national training center. In 1982, the siting, Fernand Sastre In 1984, the symbolic foundation stone. The construction work, which lasted from 1985 to 1987, included extensive clearing of woodland, the renovation of a castle as a future residential building for the French national football team and the construction of the training center Institut national de formation (INF ) as well as residential and commercial buildings. Until the early 21st century, teams of trained there male and female players participated under the name INF Clairefontaine at regular competitions; so won the A- youth team in 1988, the Coupe Gambardella, and the women played for several years in the French top.

During the Football World Cup 1998 in France, the French national living in Clairefontaine. Five days after the World Cup victory, on 17 July 1998, the training center was named after the deceased during the World Cup on June 13, 1998 Fernand Sastre. On February 22, 2002, it was inaugurated on the premises of Clairefontaine, a bust of its namesake.

Claire Fontaine is a central training camp for the French national football teams and regional training center of the Ile- de -France region for 13-15 year olds. Among the most prominent former students include Thierry Henry, William Gallas and Nicolas Anelka. Since 1998 CTNFS also includes an education and training center for women's football. In Clairefontaine, there are about 60 full-time jobs. The area is 56 hectares, 6.6 hectares of which are football pitches, namely seven natural grass and two synthetic grass courts. Claire Fontaine is a model for other European associations such as the Association, which also consider the establishment of a national training and performance center.