Noël Le Graët was reappointed on Saturday for four years at the head of the Federation he has led since 2011. This is a new success for the 79-year-old Breton, impervious to the health crisis and the attacks of his competitors .

The "Prèz '" remains in control.

For the third time after 2012 and 2017, Noël Le Graët was largely re-elected president of the FFF, declared the winner on Saturday in the first round with 73.02% of the votes of the Federal Assembly, against 25.11% for his historic rival , lawyer and former leader of the Professional League (LFP) Frédéric Thiriez, and 1.87% to businessman and club advisor Michel Moulin.

Arrived in 2011 to restore the image of a Federation soiled by the Knysna affair at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the former mayor of Guingamp therefore leaves for a round, certainly the last.

>> ALSO READ

- French Football Federation: Noël Le Graët, the "lighthouse in the storm"?

A "reconquest" operation

"We are ready, as soon as we have the key, to reopen the stadiums, so that we can find a life again," he assured the Assembly, placing the health crisis and the Covid-19 as " priority of priorities ".

Without having upset those around him to lead a campaign focused on continuity, experience and his record in the face of the health crisis, the Breton entrepreneur, traditionally widely supported by professional football, has also been able to seduce the amateur world.

Meeting by videoconference for health reasons, the Federal Assembly seems to have been convinced by its wish to open "the period of reconquest": that of licensees, educators and volunteers after a sharp drop following the Covid crisis. 19.

Neither his few public slippages, as when he said that the footballers of the French team could "pull their hair" as long as they won, nor the criticisms of his management of the FFF, were enough for his opponents.

"Crying is easy. Finding solutions is much more complicated," he said during the Assembly, urging, "in these difficult times", to be "present, positive" in the face of people "who criticize and do not want it to work".

The lawyer with the famous mustache Frédéric Thiriez (68), supported by Basile Boli and Jean-Pierre Papin, had not mince words against the leader, accused of "suffocating" the amateur world and " no longer mastering his language ".

>> ALSO READ

- Deschamps, Benzema, Aulas: Noël Le Graët confides in Europe 1

Prepare for inheritance

But the strong man of French football, at the origin of the appointment of coach Didier Deschamps, has remained unperturbed in the face of the attacks, believing that he has "no lesson to receive from anyone", while sportingly, the three major selections (male, female, Espoirs) are qualified for the Euro.

Recovered from lymphoid leukemia announced before the 2018 World Cup, Noël Le Graët says he is "in great shape" to continue the adventure, always preferring to speak of "experience" rather than age, while he will be octogenarian in December.

Will he go to the end of his term?

The ground is groomed for his succession, with in the front line his faithful among the faithful, Marc Keller, president of Strasbourg, even Jean-Michel Aulas, the boss of the Olympique Lyonnais.

Both will remain members of the Executive Committee of the FFF, to which they were renewed for four years.

But a potential handover in mid-term has been mentioned ... In the meantime, Le Graët seems determined not to change anything in the current governance.

Continuity, until the end.