Noël Le Graët, former president of the French Football Federation (FFF) who resigned from his post in February, denounced Tuesday before the National Assembly committee dedicated to “operational failures within sports federations” having suffered “an undeserved media lynching”. He left his post after press revelations and a report from the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR), according to which he “no longer has the necessary legitimacy to administer and represent football French”, taking into account in particular his “inappropriate behavior (…) towards women”.
“Today, times have changed”
“I developed women’s football, I’m used to working with women and frankly, I don’t blame myself,” he continued. Telling a woman “that she has a pretty dress, is that serious?” he asked, before adding: “Today, yes, times have changed, that doesn’t matter. said more, we need to be more careful and that’s good.” Is this sexual harassment? “For me no, for you maybe,” he replied.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, but I couldn’t stand the articles anymore, I have a family, nine grandchildren, it’s not pleasant to see untruths every day in the local or national newspaper” , declared Noël Le Graët. As a reminder, the latter has also been the target of a legal investigation for moral and sexual harassment since mid-January.
The former mayor of Guingamp also regretted his comments on homophobia in football. “I regret having used these words, (…) I took a bar of soap from my daughter when I came home, I then visited a center against homophobia, there are kids whose parents have thrown them out , I found myself sad and awkward for having said that,” said Noël Le Graët.
Then boss of “3F”, he declared in 2019 that he “would not stop matches” for homophobic chants or shouts, while he would do so for “racist shouts”, sparking an outcry until in government.
“I didn’t know before, I didn’t realize”, “I swear to you that I have changed”, he assured the members of the commission. “I’m sure these idiots are not homophobic, they are stupid,” he said of the affected supporters.