After the investigation was closed without further action for “moral and sexual harassment” Noël le Graët made a comeback in the media. In the columns of Ouest-France, the former president of the French Football Federation (FFF) spoke about the affair, and also returned to the subject of the “sexual and moral harassment” scandal. Zinedine Zidane controversy.

On RMC’s Bartoli Time program on January 8, 2023, Le Graët was asked about Didier Deschamps’ extension as head of Les Bleus, and therefore the choice not to appoint Zinédine Zidane as coach. He dismissed this possibility, and had strong words to say about the possibility of Zidane coaching another national team: “Zidane in Brazil ? I don’t give a damn, he can go wherever he wants. He can go wherever he wants, to a club… selection, I hardly believe it as far as he’s concerned. If Zidane tried to contact me ? Certainly not, I wouldn’t even have taken him on the phone. To tell him to look for another club ? Make a special show for him to find a club or a selection.”

“It wasn’t against Zidane”

As he explains to Ouest-France At the time, Didier Deschamps’ contract had only just been signed. been renewed for a further four years (until 2026), a few days after losing the 2022 World Cup final to Argentina (3-3, 4-2 on penalties). “In my opinion, 90% of managers would have done the same thing. A lot of journalists were waiting for Zidane. The first journalist who calls me, I’m more or less friendly. The second, a little less so. Then the third, I’d blow him off”.explains Le Graët.

The former French soccer manager added: “But it wasn’t against Zidane, whom I’d like to see as coach one day. I was surprised that so-called specialists, who have never managed a club, were playing the Zidane card, probably because they were fed up with writing about Didier and saying he was playing badly. Today, France is second in the FIFA rankings.”