Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation (FFF) until last Wednesday, has been denounced in court for the official audit that investigated possible sexual harassment, reports this Saturday the newspaper the world. The audit, carried out by the General Inspectorate for Education, Sports and Research (IGESR for its acronym in French), presented the complaint last Friday and communicated his decision to Le Graët himself, the outlet points out in its digital edition.
The information details that the official inspectors received different testimonies from FFF employees, the organization’s general director, Florence Hardouin, and the soccer agent Sonia Souid. The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, told Le Monde that the IGESR presented her conclusions with a complaint to the Justice and added that from now on “It is up to the prosecutor to decide the steps to follow.”
Le Graët, who has always denied any improper behavior towards the workers of the Federation, he was relieved in an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the FFF due to the growing pressure due to his verbal outbursts and due to the imminent conclusion of this investigation. A public radio investigation among the FFF workers collected several testimonies against a Le Graët, 81-year-old, who was described as frequently drunk, inviting his subordinates to dinner and, on occasion, putting his hand on their leg.
A former leader claimed to have felt “disgusted” by an “indecent proposition.” Souid denounced this week in a televised interview that Le Graët invited him to his apartment one night for a work meeting in circumstances that actually seemed like a romantic date. Le Graët “saw me as two tits and an ass,” said the soccer agent, who accused the still president of the FFF of “taking advantage of his position.”