In the middle of the audit diligent by the Ministry of Sports, the Executive Committee of the French Football Federation acted, Wednesday, the retreat of its president, Noël Le Graët, and the layoff of its director of its director General, Florence Hardouin.
by Rémi Dupré
At the twilight of his long career as a manager, Noël Le Graët did not expect to live such a dark day. In his spacious office, at the Paris headquarters of the French Football Federation (FFF), the boss of the body, 81, agreed, Wednesday, January 11, to “put himself back”, after an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee (“Comex”) of the “3F”.
The Breton leader, in office since 2011 at the head of the Federation, could he have avoided such a way after the damage caused by his disastrous statements on Sunday on RMC, concerning the Zinédine Zidane icon, and the blow of Semonce, the next day, of the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, inviting the “Comex” to “take responsibility”?
This “backhand”, which federal elected officials call “pause” or “taking a step back to calm the troops”, is planned “until the final communication of the diligent audit [in September 2022] by the Ministry of Sports “at the FFF,” and pending its analysis by the Comex “.
It intervenes the day after the second hearing of Mr. Le Graët and its general manager, Florence Hardouin, by the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR). The provisional conclusions of the listeners are expected for the end of January, and the delivery of the final report is planned mid-February.
In the interval, it is the delegate vice-president of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, 59, who will hold the functions of interim president. The ex-strength of the Federation and former director general of the Union of Professional Football Clubs (UCPF) will have to manage current affairs, while the Executive Committee will be responsible for analyzing the Provisional Report of the IGESR and Respond collegially.
“legal between”
This background of the president, which is not inscribed in the statutes of the FFF, represents a “legal in-between”, a “compromise pending the end of the ministerial audit”, according to Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Olympique Lyonnais and member of the Executive Committee.
“The public authorities had expressed themselves, the lifts of amateur football were too negative and we could not stay as it is without doing anything, he explains. We hope that the report will be given as quickly as possible Possible for the temporary period to be as short as possible. We will judge on piece at the delivery of the audit, before making the decisions that are necessary in matters of governance. “
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