From revelations to the audit, a look back at the five months of turbulence for Noël Le Graët and the FFF

Europe 1 with AFP 00:10, February 14, 2023

The revelations of So Foot magazine were the trigger for the troubles of the all-powerful boss of the FFF Noël Le Graët.

In an investigation entitled "My Fed will crack", published on September 8, 2022, the monthly publishes three extracts from undated and sexual SMS sent by the Breton leader which would have been addressed to current or past collaborators of the Federation.

The So Foot article more generally pinpoints the management but also the personality of the person who is internally called the "Prez" (the president), in office since 2011 and re-elected in 2021 until 2024, and the conflicts around the divisive general manager Florence Hardouin.

Noel Le Graët fiercely denies sending these SMS and does not feel threatened, the excitement is general and the consequences disastrous for the image of the FFF, which is filing a defamation complaint against So Foot.

Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera sparked hostilities by inviting "NLG" to a "moment of exchange" on September 16.

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The ministry launches an audit

Following the interview between Noël Le Graët and Amélie Oudéa-Castera, the Ministry of Sports launched an audit and control mission within the FFF entrusted to the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and of research (IGERS).

Meanwhile, tongues are starting to loosen since Radio France broadcast new testimonies from former FFF employees on October 12 evoking "inappropriate" behavior by Le Graët, which the latter "firmly contests", denouncing allegations "misleading and malicious".

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The comments on Zidane, the slippage too much

The World Cup in Qatar is an enchanting parenthesis for Le Graët and the Federation, who think they can take advantage of the remarkable journey of the French team to the final to evacuate the big clouds which hover over the institution.

Coach Didier Deschamps is thus extended on January 7 until the 2026 World Cup. But the next day, a short sentence from the boss of the FFF will have the effect of a bomb.

Already accustomed to controversial remarks on homophobia or racism, Le Graët dares this time to attack Zinédine Zidane, the icon of French football and sport.

Asked about RMC to find out if the ex-Real Madrid coach, who acted as the N.1 option at the head of the Blues in the event of non-renewal of Deschamps' contract, had called him, Le Graët lets go completely and is extremely brittle.

"I wouldn't even have taken it on the phone," he says.

"I have nothing to shake, he can go where he wants," he adds in reference to proposals received by Zidane, currently without a club.

NLG, however little adept of mea culpa, is obliged to apologize the next day.

But this exit still made a good part of the political class jump, which demanded his departure.

Amélie Oudéa-Castera, who has become one of her main critical voices over the weeks, calls on the FFF's executive committee on January 9 to "take responsibility", noting "a bankruptcy on the representation function" of the part of Noël Le Graët.

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Le Graët set back

On January 11, the Comex of the FFF decides on the withdrawal, until the delivery of the audit, of the president, replaced on an interim basis by Philippe Diallo, and lays off Florence Hardouin.

An investigation is then opened on January 16 by the Paris prosecutor's office for moral harassment and sexual harassment targeting Noël Le Graët following a report made after the testimony of Sonia Souid, agent of several French internationals, collected by the auditors of the 'IGERS.

Le Graët denies in a press release sent to AFP "all (the) accusations of moral or sexual harassment or any other criminal offenses".

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A damning report

The provisional report of the audit mission on the FFF, transmitted on January 30 to the parties, does not spare Noël le Graët.

The latter "no longer has the necessary legitimacy to administer" the Federation "given his behavior towards women, his public statements and the failures of the governance of the FFF", according to the document, consulted by AFP.

Le Graët's lawyers denounce a "report that looks like an indictment", assuring in a press release that the leader "will firmly defend his honor".

The retired president, Florence Hardouin and the Comex, had until Monday to comment on the report, the final version of which was expected on Wednesday.