The Ministry of Sports launches an audit of the French Football Federation, after the accusations against its president Noël Le Graët

Two months before the World Cup, the French Football Federation (FFF) is under pressure. A week after a survey published by SoFoot revealing internal dysfunctions within the FFF, the Ministry of Sports announced on Friday, September 16, that an audit would be launched to shed light on this affair and on the management of the Federation. This decision follows a meeting between Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and the president of the Federation, Noël Le Graët, as well as its general manager, Florence Hardouin.

In a press release, the ministry clarified that “this interview notably allowed the Minister to hear the President of the FFF on the content of the press article published by the magazine SO FOOT, on September 8“. And to add: “The Minister told them that she was going to initiate a mission from the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) to audit and control the management of the Federation and the respect of the obligations which s ‘attach to it.’

“The Minister recalled that it was imperative that the FFF continue its activities with absolute respect for all employees, regardless of their hierarchical level, and by actively monitoring the prevention and fight against all forms of discrimination and violence, particularly gender-based and sexual“, insists the press release.

Last week, the management but also the behavior of Noël Le Graët (80), who arrived in 2011 at the head of the FFF and re-elected in 2021 for a new term, had been questioned in the article of the monthly SoFoot. The investigation evokes, on the basis of anonymous testimonies, the sending by Le Graët of SMS of a sexual nature to employees of the FFF.

The Federation had reacted Thursday, after the meeting of its executive committee, by announcing the filing of a complaint “in defamation against the magazine So Foot because of the seriously defamatory imputations” of the article.