Le Centre Technique National Fernand Sastre (English: Fernand Sastre National Technical Centre), commonly referred to as INF Clairefontaine ("Institut national du football de Clairefontaine"), INF, or simply Clairefontaine, is the national association football centre that specializes in training French football players. The academy is one of twelve élite academies located in and around France that are supervised by the French Football Federation (FFF). Only the best players from the Île-de-France région train at the Clairefontaine academy. The eleven other academies are situated in Castelmaurou, Châteauroux, Liévin, Dijon, Marseille, Ploufragan, Vichy and Reims, Réunion, Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, and Talence.

Clairefontaine opened in 1988 and is named after Fernand Sastre, the president of the FFF from 1972–1984. The academy is located 50 km southwest of Paris at Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines and is one of the best known football academies in the world. It has a high reputation of producing some of the most gifted French players including Nicolas Anelka, Louis Saha, William Gallas, Jérôme Rothen, and national team top scorer Thierry Henry. The academy is also used to house the national football teams of France and the centre drew media spotlight following its usage as a base camp by the France team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Laurent Guyot (born 17 December 1969) is French former footballer and football manager. He currently manages CS Sedan Ardennes.

Guyot played as a central defender, mainly for Nantes, where he won the Ligue 1 title in 1995. He also played for Toulouse and Guingamp.

He was the director of FC Nantes youth academy from 2005 to 2009, but left after disagreements with president Waldemar Kita. He signed until June 2011 for newly promoted US Boulogne soon after, he chose former teammate Serge Le Dizet as his assistant coach. On 25 May 2011, he was named as the manager of the CS Sedan, signing a two-year contract.

Hatem Ben Arfa (Arabic: حاتم بن عرفة‎; born 7 March 1987) is a French footballer who plays for English club Newcastle United in the Premier League. He plays as a winger and an attacking midfielder. Ben Arfa has been described as "one of the best-rated talents in France", but has been criticized by the media and players alike for lacking discipline.

Ben Arfa started his career throughout various clubs in the Île-de-France region, having trained at AC Boulogne-Billancourt and Versailles. In 1999, he was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy. Ben Arfa spent three years at the academy and, upon leaving, signed with Lyon, where he won four Ligue 1 titles. In his early career at Lyon, he played as a centre forward, but moved into a winger role during the 2007–08 season. In the summer of 2008, Ben Arfa signed with rivals Marseille for €11 million through a move which required the intervention of the Ligue de Football Professionnel. With Marseille, he won the 2009–10 league title, his fifth overall, as well as the Coupe de la Ligue in 2010. After two years at Marseille, Ben Arfa joined English club Newcastle United on loan for the 2010–11 season with a view to a permanent deal. In January 2011, the loan deal was made permanent.

Vassiriki Abou Diaby (French pronunciation: [abu djabi]; born 11 May 1986), commonly known as Abou Diaby, is a French footballer who plays for English club Arsenal in the Premier League and the France national team. He primarily plays as a box-to-box central midfielder, as he is adept in both attack and defence, and is described as a player who is "languid, elusive, and athletic" that can either "dribble past opponents or slip passes to team-mates". Of Ivorian descent, Diaby also possesses "superb touch" and "excellent close control", however on the negative front, he often struggles with repetitive injuries, a common inconsistency that has existed since his time in France. His physical appearance and positional preference have evoked comparisons to Arsenal legend and compatriot Patrick Vieira.

Diaby was born in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, but was raised in the Parisian commune of Aubervilliers. He began his football career playing for hometown club CM Aubervilliers. In 1998, he joined Red Star Paris. A year later, Diaby was selected to attend the Clairefontaine academy. He spent four years at the academy while simultaneously training with Red Star. A year before departing Clairefontaine, Diaby moved to professional club Paris Saint-Germain. Following an administrative error by club officials which made Diaby a free agent, he joined the academy of Auxerre. He spent two years in the club's youth academy before making his professional debut in the 2004–05 season. Diaby also played in the UEFA Cup with the club. After spending the fall portion of the 2005–06 season with Auxerre, in January 2006, Diaby signed with English club Arsenal on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut with the club that same month and scored his first goal three months later against Aston Villa. Since joining Arsenal, Diaby has struggled with injuries, which included suffering a severe ankle fracture five months after joining the club.