After finally giving in and resigning on Tuesday February 28 from the presidency of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët counterattacked by accusing the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra of having ” lied on the accusations of sexual harassment against him, and announcing his intention to file a complaint for defamation. The minister, she said Wednesday, March 1 not to have it ” never accused of harassment “.
Left after more than eleven years of reign tarnished by these accusationsthe now ex-president of the FFF had his lawyer announce his intention to “ sue for defamation (Mrs. Oudea-Castera) before the Court of Justice of the Republic “.
Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said on RTL on Wednesday that she found this approach ” distressing”: “I never insulted anyone, I remained polite, I never accused him of harassment “, she replied, recalling that a preliminary investigation had been opened for acts of moral and sexual harassment against the president of the FFF.
Still just as unpredictable, the ” menhir » French football 81 years old, president of the League from 1991 to 2000 then of the FFF since 2011, has long persisted in remaining in office and has been slow to hand over, thirteen days after the communication of a damning audit report for him, commissioned by the Ministry of Sports.
” The mission was subject to numerous political interferences, in particular from the Minister of Sports who violated her obligation of impartiality “, reacted Le Graët in a daily interview The worldwhere he denounces a “ incredible clubbing ” and an ” well-organized political-media cabal “. His lawyer Thierry Marembert announced in parallel on France 5 that his client would ask ” cancellation of the audit report before the administrative court, accusing the inspectors of having been manipulated, forced by their minister “.
Inspectors from the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) considered in this report that Le Graët ” don’t have(has) more than the legitimacy necessary to administer and represent French football “, taking into account in particular its “ inappropriate behavior (…) towards women “.
” It is the prosecutor who has decided sovereignly to open an investigation »
” NLG “, targeted since mid-January by a preliminary investigation for moral and sexual harassment, was categorical with the World on these charges: There are no complaints against me and I have not assaulted anyone. »
The Minister refuted the accusations of a ” cabal “: ” We have done an in-depth work of four months, respecting the contradictory of each of the parties she said, and I will not allow the quality of the work that has been done to be denigrated. “, she added while the lawyers of Noël Le Graët wish to challenge the report of the IGESR which was delivered in mid-February.
” It was the prosecutor who decided to open an investigation for acts of moral and sexual harassment. on the basis of this inspection report, she recalled. The Minister reiterated on RTL what she had declared at a press conference: The mission (of inspection, editor’s note) evokes remarks and text messages emanating from Mr. Le Graët, ambiguous for some and of a clearly sexual nature for others “.
At the Federation on Tuesday, February 28, the leader’s resignation was accompanied by compliments from his peers on the FFF Executive Committee.
(With AFP)