That shouldn’t clear the sky over Noël Le Graët’s head. In addition to the indignation aroused in the sporting world by his remarks about Zinedine Zidane, the boss of the FFF also suffered the wrath of the political class, up to the highest peak of the State, when he must be auditioned this Tuesday by the audit mission commissioned by the Ministry of Sports to clarify, in particular, its managerial practices at the Federation.
On the eve of this great oral, the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra damn much loaded the boat during a press conference on Monday afternoon, mentioning in particular the state of mind of Emmanuel Macron after the Le Graët’s last outing. “The President of the Republic is like the French, really disappointed and offended when such remarks on such legends of French and world sport are made., she argued. The former pro tennis player laments a “freewheeling speech, which falters and sometimes seriously” and of “bankruptcy in representation” of the FFF. If she does not have the power to oust the cacique, she nevertheless increases the pressure on the executive committee of the Fed, on which she counts to “to put this federation back on the right track”.
Mbappé “exemplary”
This Sunday, the president of the FFF, also accused of sexual harassment, feeling growing wings, resolutely deviated from the marked communication corporate: “Zinedine Zidane does what he wants, that’s none of my business. I never met him, we never considered parting with Didier [Deschamps]. His future ? I have nothing to shake. He can go where he wants, in a club… A selection? I hardly believe it when it comes to him.” Then : “If Zizou tried to reach me? Certainly not, I would not even have taken him on the phone. On his Twitter account, Kylian Mbappé reacted within a quarter of an hour: “Zidane is France. We don’t disrespect the legend like that.”
For the Minister of Sports, this reaction from Mbappé is downright “exemplary: he said everything in a line and a half”. On the other hand, Le Graët’s embarrassed apologies did not convince Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, far from it: “I no longer want these situations where it trips, I no longer want these exits from the road. I consider that these successive exits from the roads damage the image of our country and offend the French. They are not up to what this great French team, this great federation and this great sport with two million licensees deserve.