Noel Le Graet Resigns: French Football Federation President Forced Out Amid Harassment Scandal

Noel Le Graet has resigned as pres­i­dent of the French Foot­ball Fed­er­a­tion (FFF) due to an inves­ti­ga­tion into sex­u­al and moral harass­ment, the fed­er­a­tion said on Tuesday.

Le Goulart, who has led the FFF since 2011, was forced to resign amid a judi­cial inves­ti­ga­tion into alle­ga­tions of sex­u­al and moral harass­ment and an adverse audit com­mis­sioned by the sports ministry.

Ear­li­er this month, the audit found that Le Graet, 81, no longer had the “nec­es­sary legit­i­ma­cy” to man­age and rep­re­sent French sport, and that “Le Graet’s inap­pro­pri­ate behav­ior towards women “empha­sizes the

Le Gra­he has denied any wrongdoing.

“Noël Le Graet has announced to the Exec­u­tive Com­mit­tee of the French Foot­ball Fed­er­a­tion that he will resign,” the FFF said in a statement.

“Vice-Pres­i­dent Philippe Dial­lo will act as Inter­im Pres­i­dent of the FFF until the next Con­gress on June 10, 2023.

Le Graet has also come under fire from play­ers and politi­cians for crit­i­ciz­ing French world cham­pi­on Zine­dine Zidane.

They have crit­i­cized the exten­sion of France coach Didi­er Deschamps’ con­tract until 2026, two years after his term as FFF man­ag­er expires.

How­ev­er, accord­ing to ESPN, Le Goulart was select­ed by FIFA pres­i­dent Gian­ni Infan­ti­no to head the FIFA Paris office.

French foot­ball has been in tur­moil in recent days, even after the nation­al team lost to Argenti­na in Qatar last Decem­ber and reached the final of the World Cup for the fourth time in the last sev­en competitions.

France’s coach Corinne Diacre has also come under fire after her cap­tain Wendy Renard said last week that she will not be play­ing in this year’s Wom­en’s World Cup.

Accord­ing to a report pub­lished by French media out­let RMC Sport, Renard has said she will not play for the nation­al team as long as Diacre is in charge.

Her inter­na­tion­al team­mates Marie-Antoinette Cato­to and Kadidiatu Diani have also said they are with­draw­ing from the nation­al team.

ESPN added that Diacre’s fate as man­ag­er will be decid­ed at a selec­tion com­mit­tee meet­ing on March 9.

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