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Eighteen months after leading to the downfall of the boss of French football, the investigation into moral and sexual harassment which targeted the former president of the Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët was dismissed by the courts. According to a source close to the matter, confirming information from Monde and of The Teamthe procedure was closed on October 17 for insufficiently serious offense.
In mid-January 2023, the Paris public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation against him for moral and sexual harassment after a report from inspectors of the General Inspection of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) entrusted to the police officers of the Brigade for the suppression of personal delinquency (BRDP).
In February 2023, an audit report targeting Noël Le Graët established by the IGESR and commissioned by the Ministry of Sports was revealed. A summary made public by the executive set out “behavioral drifts […] incompatible with the exercise of functions and the requirement of exemplarity attached to it. He also pointed out “inappropriate public positions”, “inappropriate behavior […] towards women” particularly through “SMS messages ambiguous for some and of a clearly sexual nature for others.” Accusations that the boss of the FFF, now 82 years old, fiercely denied.
His lawyer, Thierry Marembert, welcomed the decision to dismiss it to AFP: “I welcome this decision which recognizes the integrity of my client. The in-depth criminal investigation was able to verify that none of the accusations that had been hastily brought against him held water.reacted the lawyer. “It’s a big relief. There is still a little anger that remains deep inside me”said Noël Le Graët in the world. “I am not at the stage of forgiveness but I am happy to have come out of this affair with my head held high and to restore my honor a little.”
Transactional agreement
For her part, the former general director of the FFF Florence Hardouin, heard during the investigation, first filed a complaint for moral and sexual harassment against Noël Le Graët, but ultimately reached a settlement agreement with the FFF and had undertaken not to become a civil party if a trial against the former president had taken place.
A few hours after his departure from the FFF, Me Marembert announced a defamation complaint against Amélie Oudéa-Castera, then Minister of Sports, accusing him of having “save” on the IGESR report. He highlighted a difference between the summary of the document, published on February 15, 2023, and its entirety. She will be tried for defamation by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) on December 3 and 4.
Noël Le Graët was president of the League from 1991 to 2000, then of the French Football Federation from 2011 to 2023. After twelve years of reign, between sporting successes, economic recovery and epilogue in the media storm, he resigned from the head of the FFF on February 28, 2023 under pressure, weakened by clumsy statements about the icon Zinédine Zidane and especially by the testimonies of women attributing inappropriate behavior to him.
His replacement from February 2023, Philippe Diallo, then vice-president, was finally elected president on June 10 of the same year until 2024. He is standing for a four-year term in the election on December 11.
