Noël Le Graët at the head of the FFF, a presidency between sporting successes and repeated hiccups

It seemed inevitable. At the end of the meeting of the Comex (executive committee) of the French Football Federation, its president Noël Le Graët announced his resignation on Tuesday February 28, thus ending more than 11 years spent at the head of French football, since his arrival in June 2011. His fourth term, which began after his re-election in March 2021, and which was due to end in 2024, will therefore not come to an end. But what will concretely remain of his presidency, the longest as boss of the FFF since Jules Rimet (1919-1942)?

Multiple skids

We will necessarily remember his image tainted by the many controversies that his remarks have aroused in recent years. Between his minimizations of the facts of homophobia and racism in football, his repeated denials of questions of respect for human rights in Qatar, accusations of harassment and questionable management of dysfunctions within the Federation Aiming at it, the now ex-boss of “3F” has crystallized the criticisms.

“Today I do an acknowledgment of bankruptcy on this dimension of representation with freewheeling speech, which falters, sometimes seriously and repeatedly”declared the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra about the “successive road exits” of the former mayor of Guingamp, during a press conference, Sunday January 8. It was ultimately his contemptuous remarks to Zinedine Zidane on RMC that definitively precipitated his downfall.

A presidency driven by the successes of the Blues

But while Noël Le Graët was often distinguished by his slippages, he is also the man who has restored order to the most popular sport in France. The one who took control of the Federation on June 18, 2011, after being elected against the acting president of the time Fernand Duchaussoy, is the person who embodied the revival of French football, then largely weighed down by the fiasco of the Blues in Knysna (South Africa) during the 2010 World Cup.

Under the presidency of Breton, the France team shone. After a difficult qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, France reached the final of Euro 2016 at home, won the world title in Russia two years later, even offered the luxury of winning the League of Nations in 2021, before going to nothing to achieve a historic double in Qatar a few weeks ago. Successes that also bear the mark of Noël Le Graët, never far from the band of Didier Deschamps.

His four mandates are also marked by his close relationship with the coach. Extended five times since taking office in 2012 to replace Laurent Blanc, the 1998 world champion has always been supported by the manager, who regularly welcomes him to his home in Guingamp. “Mhe president has decided to extend me until 2026. I thank him for his permanent support and his continued confidence”explained the main interested party when announcing the renewal of his lease, on January 7th. “DD” has always been entrusted with the keys to the truck on a sporting level, including during the multiple upheavals in the management of the Karim Benzema case.

Mixed results for women’s football

In the same way on the side of the women’s selection, Noël Le Graët has always defended his coach Corinne Deacon, kept in post since her appointment in 2017. All this, despite the questionable management of his group during the 2019 World Cup and the layoffs. away from Lyonnaises Amandine Henry and Eugénie Le Sommer due to personal disputes.

But the record of the French women’s team since Noël Le Graët took office is less flamboyant, with five successive eliminations in the quarter-finals of major competitions between 2013 and 2019 (Euro, World Cup, Olympic Games). So much so that the recent semi-final of Les Bleues at the 2022 European Championship in England was enough for Le Graët to reiterate his confidence in Deacon at least until 2024, despite the many criticisms of the game offered by the team.

Moreover, on the decision-making level, the one where Noël Le Graët was still the most awaited because of his functions, he will have enabled France to host the 2019 World Cup on his land, and to make it a popular success. But he will also remain the one whose federation – despite a stated desire to force male professional clubs to have a women’s section from 2011 – will not have taken the plunge. the professionalization of D1 Arkema, demanded by many players. A professionalization which nevertheless seems well underway in neighboring European countries… If the identity of the successor of the native of Bourbriac will not be known until the next general assembly on June 10 after the interim of Philippe Diallo, one of its main lines of work for the future is clearly identified.