Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said on RTL on Wednesday that she had “never accused of harassment” the resigning president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët, who intends to file a complaint. in defamation against her.
“I find it distressing, I never insulted anyone, I remained polite, I never accused him of harassment. This defense strategy does not fool many people (…)”, she replied, recalling that a preliminary investigation had been opened for acts of moral and sexual harassment against the president of the FFF who says he is victim of a “well-organized political-media cabal”.
“We did our job, which consisted of listening to a certain number of people who had testimonies, continues Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. More than 115 auditions were carried out, a thorough, methodical, coherent, rigorous work. It was the prosecutor who, in view of the elements transmitted to him, in application of this obligation to report, decided that there was reason to open an investigation for acts of moral and sexual harassment. The investigation will tell. »
Attentive to the slingshot that touches the Blues
The Minister reiterated on RTL what she had declared at a press conference: “The mission (of inspection, editor’s note), it evokes remarks and text messages emanating from Mr. Le Graët, ambiguous for some and of a clearly sexual for others. Asked if she called him on Tuesday morning as he said in interviews and the conversation fell short, she called the conversation “very short” but “in practice he is the one who called me “.
The report, delivered on February 15 but never published in its entirety, pinpointed the management of the 81-year-old leader, who “no longer has the necessary legitimacy to administer and represent French football”, according to the inspectors. According to the Breton leader’s lawyer, the IGESR inspectors “were manipulated, forced by their minister”.
Asked moreover, about the sling which affects the French women’s football team and its coach Corinne Deacon let go by three of the most emblematic players, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra indicated: “it is an answer that belongs to the Federation French football team to bring, it will also do it, they have given themselves a timetable”.
“This situation pains me a little because I think there is a lot of suffering on both sides, expressed in particular by the players and this great champion that is Wendie Renard and also that of Corinne Deacon who is a respected, respectable professional,” she said. In the end, she judged that the situation “is symptomatic of the dysfunctions of this federation, with insufficient listening, decisions taken in a very isolated and solitary way, insufficient debates, exchanges, collegiality which mean that we now find ourselves in this situation “.