The coach of the France team, on the occasion of the announcement of his last group before the World Cup, was questioned about the accusations against its president, Noël Le Graët, received Friday by the Minister of Sports.
Article written by
Posted
Update
Reading time : 2 min.
“It’s not the most peaceful climate I’ve known”recognized coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday, September 15, when asked about the magazine’s investigation SoFoot pointing to conflicts at the French Football Federation (FFF) and the behavior of its president. More than an hour after the start of the press conference, the FFF announced in a press release that it had “filed a defamation complaint against SO FOOT magazine because of the seriously defamatory accusations contained in its September 8, 2022 edition, which were widely reported by the press”.
“Certainly! You are not cold in the eyes”first replied the coach of the France team to a journalist questioning him about a possible resignation of Noël Le Graët, boss of the FFF since 2011. “I don’t think we have the same readings, it’s not my field. (…) If I only refer to the sporting part, I realize that there is so much information that are lies and which, over time, become nonsense”, he kicked into touch. Deschamps refuted any annoyance at these extra-sporting questions but criticized the culture of “buzz”: “Annoyed by that? Nothing annoys me. It’s not the most peaceful climate I’ve known, but it’s an evolution there. I’m not going to generalize, blame one or the other is instantaneous, buzz, asserting truths that are not…”he continued.
Last week, the management but also the personality of the Breton were heavily criticized in an article in the monthly SoFoot evoking, on the strength of anonymous testimonies, the sending by Le Graët of SMS of a sexual nature to employees of the FFF. As for the Paul Pogba affair, which creates a certain commotion around the midfielder of Juventus Turin and the France team, he also displayed his phlegm: “I am of a serene nature in all circumstances. Do not ask me to intervene in stories, created, recreated. Today, justice is doing its job. But despite everything, there you are, he is someone who is solid, has character and is focused on the pitch.” And to conclude overall: “It’s not ideal, but I’ve known others.”