Noël Le Graët re-elected to the French Football Federation

Noël Le Graët, September 10, 2020 in Paris FRANCK FIFE AFP / Archives

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The president of the French Football Federation Noël Le Graët, in office since 2011, was reelected in the first round on Saturday March 13 for four years, after a vote by the Federal Assembly of the FFF in favor of the 79-year-old Breton.

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This is the third time, after 2012 and 2017, that the Guingampese entrepreneur has been returned to his post.

He was declared the winner with 73.02% of the votes in the Federal Assembly against 25.11% for his historic rival, the lawyer and former leader of the Professional League (LFP) Frédéric Thiriez, and 1.87% in businessman and club advisor Michel Moulin.

Arrived in 2011

Noël Le Graët 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, who cast doubt on his intentions to run for a new term until the last few weeks before the election, therefore leaves for a round, certainly the last.

Traditionally largely supported by professional football, Noël Le Graët has again won over the amateur world, which in fact represented 63% of the votes in the Federal Assembly. 

Neither his few public slippages, as when he said, about the deleterious climate among the Blues, that they could "pull their hair" as long as they won, nor the criticisms of his internal management of the "3F" considered authoritarian by its detractors, were not enough for its adversaries.

Architect of the second star of the Blues

The strong man of French football, architect of the second star won by the Blues at the 2018 World Cup and at the origin of the appointment of coach Didier Deschamps, was able to remain unperturbed in the face of the attacks, believing he had "no lesson to receive of person ”, while sportingly, the three major selections (male, female, Espoirs) are qualified for the Euro.

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

Will Noël Le Graët 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 FFF Executive Committee, to which they were renewed for four years.

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