Noël Le Graët facing investigators.
The former number 1 of the French Football Federation (FFF) was heard this Friday in Paris in a free hearing by the police officers responsible for investigating the accusations of moral and sexual harassment targeting him, his lawyer said on Monday, confirming information from L’Équipe.
“He was heard in a free hearing.
It was a natural step in this type of investigation.
He responded to the best of his memory on old, even very old, remarks,” explained Me Thierry Marembert.
When requested, the Paris prosecutor's office did not respond immediately.
After 11 years of reign, Noël Le Graët left the head of the French Football Federation (FFF) at the end of February 2023 after several months of storm, weakened by clumsy declarations about the icon Zinédine Zidane and by testimonies from women attributing to him inappropriate behavior.
An investigation into moral and sexual harassment
Two weeks earlier, an audit report established by the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) and commissioned by the Ministry of Sports had been revealed.
A summary made public by the executive set out “behavior abuses (…) incompatible with the exercise of functions and the requirement of exemplarity attached to it”.
He also pointed to “inappropriate public positions”, “inappropriate behavior (…) towards women” in particular through “SMS messages that are ambiguous for some and of a clearly sexual nature for others”.
“I bought a few goats to raise them”: what Le Graët’s new life looks like
➡️ https://t.co/dC7YTE1XWR pic.twitter.com/KuA3JjTbL8
— The Parisian |
sport (@leparisiensport) June 9, 2023
In mid-January 2023, the Paris public prosecutor's office opened an investigation into moral and sexual harassment after a report from IGESR inspectors, entrusted to police officers from the Personal Crime Repression Brigade (BRDP).
The former general director of the FFF Florence Hardouin, heard in April in this investigation, initially filed a complaint against him, but ultimately reached a settlement agreement with the FFF and undertook not to become a civil party. in the event of a trial against Mr. Le Graët.
A few hours after his departure from the FFF, Me Marembert announced a defamation complaint against Amélie Oudéa-Castera, then only Minister of Sports, accusing her of having “lied” about the IGESR report.
Following this complaint, a judicial investigation has been open since June 21 at the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only court authorized to judge ministers in the exercise of their function.
Mr. Le Graët's defense also requested the annulment of the IGESR report before the administrative courts.