“The status quo is impossible” concerning Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation who no longer has “the legitimacy necessary to administer and represent” French football, said Wednesday the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The leader of the FFF since 2011 “is a man of decision, I hope he will take the right ones for the Federation, but also for himself. Other ways exist if he does not do it”, said the minister during a press conference following the conclusion of the audit mission on the “dysfunctions” in the largest sports federation in France.
“Given the shortcomings in governance, his seriously inappropriate behavior towards women, I can only endorse the conclusion of the report: he no longer has the necessary legitimacy to administer and represent French football”. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra herself refused to call for the resignation of the 81-year-old leader, citing “the autonomy of the federations” and the role to be played henceforth by the executive committee of the FFF, chaired by Noël Le Graët.
“It is important that this federation can bounce back”
“All of this belongs to the members of the authorities. The State has played its full role, nothing but its role,” she assured. The audit, “it is not something that the Minister of Sports has chosen to do. We reacted urgently to shocking media revelations”. The minister claimed not to have “exchanged specifically” with the president of the FFF. “It is up to him in the days that have just come to take a step back, to discuss with the other members of the comex. It is a timing that belongs to them. It is no longer my calendar”, she insisted.
“It is important for this federation to be able to bounce back and carry out the work that awaits it. It is extremely important that the Comex fully play its role, that the two institutions – the National Ethics Committee and the High Authority for Football – have this role of guardian, safeguard, this moral authority. It is important that we have strong authorities, with checks and balances, collegiality”.