Noel Le Graet was elected as the new head of the French football federation when he defeated outgoing president Fernand Duchaussoy in the first round of voting on Saturday.
Le Graet won the three-way race with 54.39 percent of the votes ahead of Duchaussoy and Eric Thomas, who received only 0.19 percent of ballots.
Le Graet, a former president of the French league, has been in charge of financial affairs at the French federation since 2005. His mandate expires in December 2012.
Duchaussoy took over after Jean-Pierre Escalettes resigned last July following France's World Cup debacle in South Africa, where the players went on strike at a training session and the team was eliminated at the group stage without winning a match.
During his campaign, Le Graet promised to develop a greater solidarity between professional and amateur football and to restore the competitiveness of the French game, both at club and national level.
''I want to thank amateur football, this is a clear score,'' said Le Graet, who is also the president of second division side Guingamp.
The election, which took place in a hotel in Paris, gave the chance for a group of anti-racist activists to hold a protest in the wake of a row about introducing quotas at French training academies.
They were dispersed by police without trouble after being granted a meeting with new federation officials later this month.
At a meeting between the France coach, Laurent Blanc, and colleagues from the federation in November, discussions centered around whether quotas should be introduced at academies for young French players with dual nationality, many of them black and Arab.
Investigative website Mediapart published the discussion in April, prompting the French federation and the sports ministry to launch an investigation. Blanc escaped sanction and technical director Francois Blanquart was suspended for eight days.
Le Graet said such debates have no place in the federation.
Duchaussoy said he would not bid for other responsibilities at the federation in future.
''I'm proud of what I did for French football,'' Duchaussoy said. ''I tried to work with courage and I wish Noel Le Graet luck and a lot of courage - it's required.''
