French football body to meet Wednesday to discuss case against FFF president

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The French Football Federation (FFF) will convene an urgent meeting of its executive committee Wednesday morning to discuss the crisis that federation president Noel Le Graet caused for his dismissive comments about France legend Zinedine Zidane and allegedly improper conduct against a female football agent.

The French sports daily L'Equipe reported Tuesday that Le Graet, 81, the FFF chief since 2011, requested to gather to provide an explanation about his controversial remarks about 1998 FIFA World Cup champion Zidane and sexual harassment claims by FFF agent Sonia Souid, which is a separate case.

In a communique, Le Graet apologized Monday to former France and Real Madrid superstar Zidane, saying his "clumsy remarks have created a misunderstanding."

He told a French sports channel Sunday that Zidane, 50, had never been approached to coach the French national team.

"Zidane to Brazil (national team)? I don't care. He does what he wants, that does not concern me. I have never met him (to talk). We have never considered parting with Didier (Deschamps)," Le Graet said.

His remarks were regarded as disrespectful towards Zidane, a famous football figure.

French football star Kylian Mbappe, who won the 2018 World Cup with France, called on Le Graet to respect Zidane, as he is a football legend.

"Zidane is France. We don't disrespect the legend like that," Mbappe previously tweeted.

Zidane’s former club, Real Madrid, also disapproved of Le Graet’s comments for the same reason.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera slammed Le Graet and called Monday on the FFF executive committee to take action against him.

Deschamps, 54, a former France midfielder, has been coaching Les Bleus since 2012. France failed to win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but Deschamps, the French national team’s head coach, signed a contract extension through 2026 on Saturday.

The FFF members were reported to be unhappy as they were not informed by Le Graet about Deschamps' contract extension after France's World Cup failure.

Argentina were crowned the 2022 World Cup champions after beating France 4-2 on penalties.

A free agent since 2021, Zidane, who coached Real Madrid to win three UEFA Champions League titles in 2016-2018 and the Spanish La Liga twice in 2017 and 2020, was seen as an ideal candidate to replace his former teammate Deschamps.

Zidane was a Real Madrid midfielder in 2001-2006 to secure a Champions League trophy and a Spanish league title.

Deschamps and Zidane were teammates at France when they won the 1998 World Cup and EURO 2000 titles.

In the Deschamps era, France won the 2018 World Cup and the 2021 UEFA Nations League. In addition, France were the UEFA EURO 2016 and 2022 World Cup finalists.

On Tuesday, Patrick Anton, president of the National Ethics Council of the FFF, called on Le Graet to resign for his remarks, which had irked France and the football community.

"Le Graet has made comments that show he has lost some of his lucidity. He is a man who is tired, who needs to move on," Anton told L'Equipe.

- Le Graet accused of sexual harassment

A separate case has seemed to corner Le Graet, who has been targeted by accusations of sexual harassment.

Sonia Souid, 37, a sports agent at FFF, claimed that a professional meeting at Le Graet's apartment turned into flirting after she was invited to drink champagne with him.

She said the FFF president looked at her "like a piece of candy" rather than a competent professional and she was "disappointed" with Le Graet's attitude towards her.

During Le Graet's tenure, France hosted EURO 2016, where the French national team were eliminated in the final by Portugal 1-0 at Stade de France. But in 2018, Les Bleus secured the World Cup title in Russia after beating Croatia 4-2.

In 2021, Le Graet was re-elected for a further four years.