Excluded from the FFF a year ago, Noël Le Graët has still not digested the pressure put on him by the Minister of Sports.
He was the face of French football for years. Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation (FFF) from 2011 to 2023 after having been that of the Professional Football League from 1991 to 2000, resigned from his post a year ago because of accusations of harassment moral and sexual which he is still the subject of today, but also because of his controversial outings on Zinedine Zidane or even Qatar.
Isolated, the former president of Guingamp had no choice but to submit his resignation after, in particular, great pressure from the government and the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudea Castera, following a fairly damning audit report, proving that he was no longer fit to govern the FFF. Despite this sidelining, Noël Le Graët retained a place of choice in the world of football by being representative of the President of Fifa to the Paris office. However, the Breton no longer influences the daily life of French football at all, as explained Le Figaro in a survey published this Tuesday.
“Very touched”, “angry and filled with darkness“, “disconnected from reality” or “eager to win his last fight”… Anonymous relatives defend in the article a man who seems broken. “His image has been tarnished forever, some describe him as a rapist and an alcoholic when he is simply a man who is no longer in phase with current society. Womanizers, yes, but definitely not a sex offender “, explains an influential person in French football cited by Le Figaro. In private, Noël Le Graët has also always been angry with Amélie Oudea Castera, his former minister against whom he filed a complaint for defamation. A mutual feeling as confirmed by someone close to the case: “Oudéa-Castéra takes him for a redneck from Guingamp with poorly tailored suits and him for a petite bourgeoisie from the Parisian elite. Culturally, they couldn’t get along“. A judicial investigation has been open since June 21 at the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR).
But what has Noël Le Graët really been doing since his departure? If he still prepares his defense and does not let go of his line, completely refuting the accusations of harassment, the former president would now live like a “grandfather” according to one of his close friends. His daily life is punctuated by football matches in front of his television, watching Formula 1 and boxing fights, political debates and even exchanges with his Breton friends as Le Figaro explains. “ He has grandfather’s activities, with crosswords and sudoku in the afternoon, or even enjoying his grandchildren, taking them to McDonald’s.” adds knowledge.
Noël Le Graët now has only one goal in his life: to save his reputation. This is what he tried to do again when sending his wishes for the new year to President Emmanuel Macron, launching in his letter a “jI swear to you that I did nothing wrong.”