Diverts from French areas (8)
I believe the answer is:
detracts
'diverts' is the definition.
(detracting is a kind of diverting)
'from french areas' is the wordplay.
'from french' becomes 'de' ('from' in French).
'areas' becomes 'tracts' (tract is a kind of area).
'de'+'tracts'='DETRACTS'
(Other definitions for detracts that I've seen before include "Takes away or lessens" , "Take away a part, lessens" .)