Just relaxed after the dismissal of the investigation into “moral and sexual harassment” who targeted him, Noël le Graët spoke in the columns of Ouest-France, returning in particular to his controversial outings on Zinédine Zidane.
After the investigation was closed without further action for “moral and sexual harassment” who targeted him, Noël le Graët made his return to the media. In the columns of Ouest-France, the former president of the French Football Federation (FFF) spoke about this affair and also returned to the Zinédine Zidane controversy.
On January 8, 2023 on RMC, in the show Bartoli Time, Le Graët was questioned about the extension of Didier Deschamps at the head of the Blues and therefore the choice not to appoint Zinédine Zidane as coach. He brushed aside this possibility and had strong words about the possibility of seeing Zidane coach another selection: “Zidane in Brazil ? I don’t care, he can go wherever he wants. He can go wherever he wants, in a club… selection, I hardly believe it as far as he is concerned. If Zidane tried to contact me ? Certainly not, I wouldn’t even have picked him up on the phone. To tell him to look for another club ? Make a special show for him so he can find a club or a selection.”
“It wasn’t against Zidane”
As he explains to West France at the time, Didier Deschamps’ contract had just been renewed for four additional years (until 2026), a few days after the defeat in the 2022 World Cup final against Argentina (3-3 , 4-2 on penalties). “In my opinion, 90% of leaders would have done the same thing. Many journalists were waiting for Zidane. The first journalist who calls me, I’m pretty much friendly. The second, a little less. Then the third one, I send him away”explains Le Graët.
And the former leader of French football added: “But it wasn’t against Zidane, who I would like to see as coach one day. I was surprised that so-called specialists, who have never managed a club, played the Zidane card, probably because they were tired of writing about Didier and saying that he plays badly. Today, France is second in the FIFA rankings.”
