Controversial remarks on Zinedine Zidane, unilateral extension, accusations of sexual harassment ... The president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët, must explain himself on Wednesday January 11, before an extraordinary executive committee of the federation and plays his future.

This exceptional convocation of the "government" of the FFF, decided by a weakened president, is supposed to allow him to respond to the various questions and internal criticisms, but also to take the pulse of his close guard.

The Dégommeuses were this morning in front of the #FFF.

They call for the resignation of #LeGraet and a refoundation of the federation, plagued by sexism, homophobia and racism.


Another football is possible pic.twitter.com/Cr7GfzwmKz

— ⚽️Les Dégommeuses✊🏾 (@LesDegommeuses) January 11, 2023

The Comex, which was to start at 11 a.m. at the headquarters on boulevard de Grenelle in Paris, is an opportunity for the 81-year-old leader, in office since 2011, to discuss several hot topics, such as the recent extension of coach Didier Deschamps , his controversial statements towards the icon Zidane and the audit mission launched by the Ministry of Sports, for which Le Graët was heard on Tuesday.

Trouble is piling up indeed for the former socialist mayor of Guingamp.

And the members of the decision-making body of the Federation (14 including the president) had little taste for the last episodes which seriously damage the image of the institution and cast doubt on the ability of its boss to go after his third and final full term, scheduled for December 2024. 

>> To read also: To dismiss Le Graët from the presidency of the FFF?

Not that easy...

The Executive Committee did not appreciate learning, on Saturday, the renewal of Deschamps at the head of the Blues until 2026 in full General Assembly, like the other participants, a subject which had not been discussed during its meeting. , the day before.

A demonstration in front of the headquarters

The disrespectful outing of Le Graët towards Zizou on Sunday on RMC also set French football ablaze and sparked many indignant reactions.

The Breton apologized via a press release sent to AFP, but he will again have to answer to the Comex.

The testimony of agent Sonia Souid, accusing him directly of repeated advances, only overwhelmed the octogenarian president a little more while his management, as well as that of his general manager Florence Hardouin, and its supposed sexist behavior, particularly with former employees, is the subject of an audit and control mission commissioned by the Minister of Sports.

The conclusions of this audit are expected at the end of January, but the first elements have already leaked.

France Inter thus revealed that "several women" had "denounced (...) the attitude of Noël Le Graët towards them", which was confirmed to AFP by a source familiar with the matter.

According to public radio, a former executive "showed the inspectors text messages and WhatsApp messages" which "are certainly not illegal but (...) raise questions given the hierarchical link".

The tension is therefore extreme as evidenced by the small brilliant action of six members of the "Dégommeuses", a team composed mainly of lesbians and transgender people, Wednesday morning, in front of the headquarters of the FFF.

The demonstrators held up signs hostile to Le Graët on which one could read in particular "Le Graët: Santa Claus is garbage", "Sexual harassment, Le Graët resignation" or "In the kingdom of sexism, it's Christmas every day ".      

With AFP

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app