Noel Le Graet received standing ovation following FFF resignation

Éric Borghini, member of the comex of the French Federation of Football (FFF) revealed to L’Équipe that Noël Le Graët, who on Tuesday resigned as president of the FFF received a standing ovation following his resignation.

Le Graët stepped down as president during the organisation’s executive board meeting this Tuesday, as announced by the organisation itself. Le Graët had been in his position since 2011 but stepped back from his duties at the start of January, notably in the wake of his derogatory comments about legendary playmaker Zinédine Zidane’s chances of managing the French national team.

The decision came amidst mounting pressure on Le Graët to resign following the release of an audit, commissioned by French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The government-mandated audit into the FFF notably accused him of multiple instances of sexual harassment, which Le Graët himself has denied. The audit concluded that Le Graët “no longer has the necessary legitimacy to manage and represent French football.”

Le Graët’s lawyer, Thierry Marembert has since revealed that Le Graët intends to sue Oudéa-Castéra, who earlier welcomed the former EA Guingamp president’s resignation, stating it was “the best thing for himself and the FFF.”

Borghini, who was present at the executive board meeting on Tuesday, during which Le Graët resigned, has now revealed that the former president left to a standing ovation. Borghini said that Le Graët said that he didn’t want to resign, but did so with “very strong, very touching, very emotional words.” The comex member said that Le Graët vowed “to fight to establish his honour” in light of the allegations against him.

He then spoke about the end of the meeting. “Le Graët thanked all of the members of the comex, thanked football for everything that it has given him his whole life and then all of us (comex members) said a word or two. After this, he got up and left the room with a standing ovation from the comex. We clapped. Philippe Diallo, who is the interim president until 10th June then continued the session,” said Borghini.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle