"See you after the election?"
Unless I hear bad news by then. ”
Met on March 4 in his FFF office, Noël Le Graët barely hides his optimism about his chances of keeping his place as the big boss of French football.
Laughing eye and playful spirit, the 79-year-old leader knows he is a huge favorite in an election that will deliver its verdict in the middle of the day on Saturday.
Facing him, two men dream of creating the feat and dismissing him: Frédéric Thiriez, 68, lawyer and former president of the Professional Football League (2002-2016), then Michel Moulin, 60, founder of the newspaper ParuVendu and ephemeral advisor to Paris SG.
But, with his experience, network and interpersonal skills, Noël Le Graët seems to see a real head start.
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"That he continues to take us down, we will see the result", laughs Frédéric Thiriez, back in combat and who did not skimp on the attacks against the current president of the 3F to try to reverse the trend. .
"Federation exceeded, fossilized", or a boss of French football "more master of his language", after his outings criticized on racism, homophobia or the Blue of Corinne Deacon.
For several months, the Thiriez-Moulin duo did not stop wanting the president in place to waver on the theme of amateur football with a common speech: apart from the selections and the sponsors, NoëL Le Graët did not care about the famous and symbolic "base".
A somewhat simplistic tactic for some, but a game worth the candle with regard to the voting system with 63% of the votes coming from the amateur world, against 37% coming from professional football.
"Am I afraid of them?"
Be serious.
What do I have to tell these two gentlemen?
A debate would have no interest ”
Noël Le Graët on his refusal of a debate with his two opponents
Frédéric Thiriez and Noël Le Graët in 2014Panoramic
"All the opponents of Le Graët had only this theme in mind, it is a little weak and expected as a campaign program", laughs a regular of federal mysteries.
With a list of experience with Jean-Michel Aulas, Marc Keller, or Jamel Sandjak, president of the Paris Ile-de-France League and a real war prize, the good form of national selections, flourishing sponsorship contracts and golden finances despite the crisis, the current president has not stopped campaigning without responding to attacks from his competitors.
Eager to face him in a three-way debate, "NLG" refused the initiative.
“He was afraid,” Thiriez retorts.
Program against program, he was no match. "
Not in Le Graët's opinion: "Am I afraid of them?"
Be serious.
What do I have to tell these two gentlemen?
A debate would have no interest.
I did it once in 2012 against François Ponthieu and Eric Thomas (
victory with 83.07% of the vote
), I must tell you a secret, it was the worst evening of my life.
The remarks were stupid on the part of my opponents… Today, Thiriez got his shirt wet by moving around France, this is less the case with Moulin.
The real debates are the people in front of you, on the ground. ”
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Main opponent, Frédéric Thiriez believes in his chances of causing an earthquake at the top of French football.
And come back through the front door.
To achieve this, the former fan of Johnny Hallyday and scuba diving surrounded himself with Basile Boli, Luis Fernandez and Jean-Pierre Papin as headliner, but also Olivier Sadran, the former president From toulouse.
With a credo: respect amateur football and put in place an emergency and development plan in the event of an election.
"It's funny to hear him talk about the base when we know that he was the president of the LFP who sank Luzenac (promoted to Ligue 2 in 2014, the club was refused accession for problems administrative), tackle a close to the FFF.
He dragged it like a bullet throughout the campaign. "
In another measure, Michel Moulin - strong of an eclectic list with presidents of amateur clubs and personalities like the former judoka and minister David Douillet, the ex-boss of the DCRI Bernard Squarcini and the journalist Christine Kelly- has he also tried to make himself heard, with a clear speech in the direction, again, of amateur football.
Aware of going from very far, the current president of the Blois club has been talked about for his statements around Deschamps and Benzema.
To announce his candidacy, he had made controversial remarks in our columns in
Le Figaro
.
“On the management of Karim Benzema, who is a great striker, Didier Deschamps, he is an employee of the FFF.
If above him, he is told to play Benzema, he must make him play. "
A shattering statement which had also quite annoyed the coach of the world champions and made Noël Le Graet smile.
"Such an exit is not very credible when one aspires to such functions", he breathes on the subject.
Now the 218 voters from the 22 leagues, 91 districts and clubs with professional status (Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and 5 National clubs) are responsible for delivering their verdict.
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