France Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet has been removed from his post after making negative comments about Zinedine Zidane.
This decision was taken in an emergency meeting of the FFF Executive Committee today. Philippe Diallo will replace Graet as president. He was the Vice President for so long.
The 81-year-old Graet had been widely criticized for days. Graet gave an interview to RMC Sports after Didier Deschamps was appointed France national team manager until 2026. When asked about Zinedine Zidane, one of the contenders for the head coach. The FFF chief made several negative comments, one of which was. “If Zidane had called me, what would have happened?” Certainly nothing would have happened. I didn’t pick up his phone.’
He came under fire from current and former footballers for commenting that Zidane doesn’t ‘care’ where and what he does. At one point, the country’s sports minister Emily Odia-Castera asked Graet to apologize to Zidane. On the same day, he issued a statement apologizing.
Graet was in the discussion on another charge earlier.
The audit commission formed by the French Ministry of Sports is investigating allegations of sexual harassment of FFF workers against him. All in all, the executive committee called an emergency meeting today and asked Grayat to step down from the post of president. The FFF later confirmed the matter in a press release.
The meeting held at the French Football Federation office in Paris also discussed the duration of Desham’s contract. The 1998 World Cup winning captain has been taking care of the France team since 2012. The FFF contract with him was till 2022 World Cup.
After becoming the runner-up in the World Cup held in Qatar, Graet renewed the contract with Desham until the next World Cup when he expressed his interest in continuing his duties. It was discussed in the meeting of the executive committee whether it is ethical to appoint someone for another two years, whose term will end in 2024. In the end, the committee approved the contract renewal with Desam.
