Europe 1 with AFP 6:24 p.m., January 11, 2023

French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra welcomed Wednesday in a statement to AFP as "a necessary step" the withdrawal of Noël Le Graët by the executive committee of the French Football Federation (FFF).

Very involved in the case since the accusations of harassment against Noël Le Graët, Amélie Oudéa-Castera has been putting strong pressure for several days to obtain the ousting of the president of the FFF.

The withdrawal of the current president marks for her a small victory for the Minister of Sports.

"I welcome the decision taken by the Comex of the FFF to meet without delay and to act", reacted the minister, who had urged the management of the FFF on Monday to "take its responsibilities" after the scathing remarks of its president. regarding Zinedine Zidane.

This "results in the withdrawal of the president, a necessary step in view of the already known elements of his attitude", she adds.

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The "confident" minister

The minister also said "to take note" of the decision to lay off as a precautionary measure concerning the general manager of the FFF, Florence Hardouin.

She said she was "confident in the rapid, full and complete resolution of this crisis at the head of the first sports federation in France" which will allow her, among other things, "to better assume her ethical and societal responsibility in the future, in particular in terms of preventing and combating gender-based and sexual violence".

Monday, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who has tense relations with the president of the FFF, had banged her fist on the table and called on the Comex "to take the full measure of the situation, in a time of exchange that I invite to have".

"I have at heart that the autonomy of the federations is a reality and each time the governing bodies take their responsibilities, I consider it a victory for French sport", declared Amélie Oudéa-Castéra during the meeting. a press conference organized at the headquarters of the ministry.

As the federation's supervisory authority, the Ministry of Sports cannot dismiss a federation president.

He only has at his disposal the weapon, considered as the ultimate, of the withdrawal of the delegation to a federation.