- ad hoc committee will meet to decide Diacre’s fate on Thursday
Noel Le Graet has left his post as French Football Federation president after he announced his resignation at Tuesday’s executive committee meeting.
FFF ground to an abrupt halt last Friday when several women’s national team players, including iconic defender Wendie Renard, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani all withdrew their names from national duties.
Confirming the news, a FFF statement read, “Noel Le Graet announced to the Executive Committee of the FFF this Tuesday Feb. 28 his decision to leave office. Vice-president Philippe Diallo will act as interim FFF president until Jun. 10, the date of the next federal assembly. The FFF would like to salute the remarkable sporting and economic results of Noel Le Graet. Since Jun. 18 of 2011, the men’s and women’s teams have won 11 titles and played in 6 international tournament finals. French talent development is now considered amongst the best in the world. Economic results also enabled the doubling of aid to amateur soccer to reach an historic record of $110 million this season.”
“Regarding the audit by the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research (IGESR), the FFF notes that this report does not mention any systemic failures, nor any breaches of its sovereign missions,” added French soccer’s governing body.
“The FFF nevertheless notes that this report is based less on objective facts than on assessments which have sometimes led to a disproportionate denigration of the body. The FFF also regrets the lack of a real procedure and the failure to take into account the many observations made by the FFF on subjects concerning governance and the fight against sexism as well as sexual violence. The FFF therefore wishes to reaffirm its strong commitment against gender-based and sexual violence. The FFF will also continue work to reform its governance and the FFF undertakes to retain all the useful recommendations of this audit.”
