Noël Le Graët consents to his inevitable resignation

by time news

His resignation was expected, and he actually presented it around 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday February 28 to the members of the executive committee (Comex) gathered around him at the headquarters of the French Football Federation (FFF): Noël Le Graët leaves the presidency of instance before the end of his fourth term and after eleven years of rule, because there was no other decent choice to exit through the back door.

A bitter endgame certainly for the principal concerned, but inevitable since the accusations of harassment against him, his cookie-cutter remarks and the results of the audit of the Ministry of Sports questioning his “legitimacy to administer and represent French football”.

“Wash His Honor”

The 81-year-old Breton took a long time to consent to this departure, and he should not go down without a fight. He hears “to clear one’s honour” both mediatically and legally. And still occupy the field, the International Football Federation (Fifa) of Gianni Infantino, to which he is close, to offer him to lead his Paris office. The ex-president should therefore not be satisfied with the only press release from the FFF announcing his resignation and taking care of “welcome the sporting and economic results of Noël Le Graët”.

In the same press release, the FFF also authorized itself to comment on the ministerial audit, stressing that “this report does not mention any systemic failure”regretting that it is based “less on objective facts than on assessments which have sometimes led to a disproportionate disparagement of the body”. The members of the Comex elected on the list led by Noël Le Graët in 2021 have not in fact resigned following him, and it is indeed Philippe Diallo, the interim president who will remain so and will manage the FFF until the assembly. federal programmed in June.

The knives are sharpened for the after

Until then, calm is not guaranteed in and around the FFF. Because it is a question for some of advancing their pawns by preparing for the future. Two scenarios arise. The Comex may appoint one of its members from among its members to assume the presidency until the end of this term in December 2024, and have it validated by the assembly. The other possibility is that 25% of the members of the federal assembly demand a revocation meeting of the Comex to provoke new elections. The procedure to follow is statutorily rather vague, but some are active behind the scenes, such as Jamel Sandjak, the president of the Paris-Île-de-France League, the only one to resign from the Comex on February 23 last. Note that Jamel Sandjak is not the most fervent admirer of Philippe Diallo.

Others are not satisfied with the single resignation of a man and call for radical changes to the FFF. Thus Éric Thomas, president since its creation in 2010 of the French Amateur Football Association, lifelong opponent of Noël Le Graët and unsuccessful candidate against Breton in 2012 and 2017, does not rule out running again. Frédéric Thiriez, the former president of the Professional Football League (from 2002 to 2016), beaten with 25% of the votes in the 2021 elections by Noël Le Graët, judge, him, urgent to “review the statutes of the FFF”.

The ship should thus continue to pitch, and this from the end of the week. Former director Florence Hardouin, under dismissal procedure, who formed an explosive tandem with Noël Le Graët at the head of the FFF, plans to speak in the days to come. Season 1 of the thriller series is coming to an end. On to season 2.

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Corinne Deacon suspended for five months from the World Cup

The Comex also looked into the women’s football file, opened with a bang last weekend after the decision of five players from the France team, including the emblematic captain Wendie Renard and PSG striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto, not to honor their selection under the current management conditions of Les Bleues. Coach Corinne Deacon is the first target of this mutiny, five months before the World Cup. However, the Comex decided not to react urgently. A working group made up of four of its members, including the president of Olympique Lyonnais, Jean-Michel Aulas, was set up to analyze the situation and present its conclusions on March 9.

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