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Scandal-hit French football boss forced to step down

French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet has been forced to stand down just weeks after France's defeat in the World Cup final following a series of controversies, the body said on Wednesday.

Scandal-hit French football boss forced to step down
French Football Federation (FFF) President Noel Le Graet walks at the FFF headquarters after attending a hearing as part of a government audit of the federation in Paris, on January 10, 2023. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

The decision was taken following an emergency meeting of the FFF in Paris.

“Noel Le Graet, in agreement with the FFF executive committee gathered today in Paris, has chosen to step down from his role as president until the completion of the audit performed by the sports ministry,” the federation said.

Le Graet, whose mandate was due to run until 2024, had faced calls to resign after what he admitted were “clumsy remarks” about Zinedine Zidane’s potential interest in coaching the French national team.

The 81-year-old, who has been president of the FFF since 2011, had said in an interview with radio station RMC on Sunday that he “wouldn’t even have taken his call” when asked whether Zidane, a World Cup winner as a player and an all-time France great, had rung him to express an interest in taking over as coach from Didier Deschamps.

Deschamps, who led France to World Cup glory in 2018 and oversaw their run to last month’s final which they lost on penalties to Argentina, last weekend signed a new contract to stay as France coach until 2026.

Speaking on Wednesday at an event in Nice, Deschamps admitted Le Graet’s comments about Zidane had been “inappropriate”.

The storm around Zidane followed a series of accusations of mistreatment by employees at the FFF, which led to the French government launching an audit of the federation and Le Graet being summoned to attend a hearing.

Le Graet denied those accusations, but on Tuesday his behaviour again came under the spotlight with a female football agent making further accusations of unwanted sexual advances by the veteran administrator in an interview with sports daily L’Equipe.

France’s sports minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, had made clear that she wanted action taken against Le Graet when she called on the FFF’s executive committee to “take responsibility” when speaking to reporters on Monday.

With committee members taking the view that Le Graet’s position had become untenable, he has been replaced on an interim basis by Philippe Diallo, a vice-president of the organisation.

In addition the FFF’s director general, Florence Hardouin, has been suspended from her role.

Oudea-Castera welcomed the moves and told AFP that the president standing down was “a necessary step given what we know about his attitude”.

Le Graet is a former socialist mayor of the small Brittany town of Guingamp who later oversaw the rise of the local football team that became a top-flight force during his time as club president.

He is the second high-profile French sporting administrator to be forced to step down in recent weeks.

French Rugby Federation president Bernard Laporte said he would offer to resign last month after being handed a two-year suspended prison sentence on corruption charges.

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SPORT

France football star Thuram takes stand against far right ahead of elections

France forward Marcus Thuram on Saturday called on voters in the country to "fight" to stop the far right coming to power in upcoming snap elections.

France football star Thuram takes stand against far right ahead of elections

Thuram is the first member of the France squad at Euro 2024 to take a clear position against the far-right National Rally (RN) ahead of legislative elections for the French National Assembly.

“I think the situation is sad and very serious,” the 26-year-old forward with Italian champions Inter Milan told reporters in Paderborn, where the 2022 World Cup runners-up are based during the Euros in Germany.

President Emmanuel Macron has called elections with the first round set for June 30 and the second round on July 7.

He announced the snap poll last Sunday in response to the results of the EU elections, in which far-right parties — including the top-scoring RN — managed to take almost 40 percent of the vote in France.

The French squad, the majority of whom come from an immigrant background, had been playing a friendly match against Canada at the same time as Macron made his announcement.

“I heard about it after the match against Canada. We were all a bit shocked in the dressing room.

“We need to tell everyone to get out and vote, to fight every day to stop the RN winning,” added Thuram, who is preparing with his teammates for their first European Championship game against Austria on Monday.

Other France players, notably Ousmane Dembele and Olivier Giroud, had already publicly called on their compatriots to go out and vote in the elections, but had not taken as clear a stand as Thuram.

“I hope that everyone shares my opinion. It is not enough to say that you need to go out and vote. We need to explain how we have got to where we are,” he said.

“I don’t think it should be very difficult to talk about. It is the way I have been educated.

“I know a lot of people follow me on social media and I have an obligation to get certain messages across,” added Thuram, whose father Lilian won the World Cup with France in 1998 and is well-known for his campaigning against racism.

“Having grown up with my father I feel a responsibility to get this message across.”

Of his teammates in the France squad, Thuram added: “I have no doubt at all that everyone in the France squad thinks the same way as me.

“I am not here to force anyone to say anything even if it is what they think.

“Thanks to my father I have enough of an understanding of this situation to be able to talk about it.”

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