By Christian George
French football boss, Noël Le Graët, has resigned his appointment as the head of the French Football Federation due to investigation on alleged sexual harassment.
According to France24, Graët resigned as head of the French Football Federation on Tuesday amid a legal investigation into alleged harassment and a damning audit commissioned by the sports ministry.
The 81 years old football chief bowed out 13 days after the publication of a damning report into management practices at the Paris-based FFF, which had been commissioned by the French sports ministry.
In a report by the French General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research said Le Graët should not return because his “behavioural excesses are incompatible with the exercise of his functions.”
Le Graët who had been the chairmann of FFF since 2011 was a former chairman of Breton club En Avant Guingamp.
His reign as FFF boss saw the French men’s national team victory at the 2018 World Cup followed by a run to last year’s final in Qatar, which they lost on penalties to Argentina.
The genesis of his investigation may not be unconnected with an allegation of sexual and psychological harassment made by a female football agent, Sonia Souid.
As pressure intensified, Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra joined calls for Le Graët’s ouster, adding that the FFF chief “no longer has the legitimacy to administer and represent French football”.
