The case was dismissed on October 17 for insufficiently serious offences.
The investigation into moral and sexual harassment against Noël Le Graët, former president of the French Football Federation (FFF), has been closed, a source close to the case said on Sunday, confirming a report in the newspaper World and The Team.
“I welcome this decision, which recognizes my client’s probity. The thorough criminal investigation has shown that none of the accusations hastily levelled against him had any basis in fact”.reacted his lawyer Thierry Marembert, contacted by AFP. According to a source close to the case, the proceedings were closed on October 17, on the grounds that the offence was not sufficiently serious.
After 11 years of reign, M. Le Graët stepped down as head of the FFF at the end of February 2023 after several months of turmoil, weakened by clumsy statements about icon Zinedine Zidane and by testimonies from women accusing him of inappropriate behavior. Two weeks earlier, an audit report drawn up by the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) and commissioned by the Ministry of Sports had been unveiled.
Inappropriate behavior
A summary made public by the executive branch set out “behavioral deviations (…) incompatible with the exercise of duties and the requirement of exemplarity attached thereto”.. It also pointed to “inappropriate public positions”., “inappropriate behaviour (…) towards women”. in particular through “ambiguous text messages for some and clearly sexual for others”..
Mid-January 2023, the Paris public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into moral and sexual harassment. following a report by IGESR inspectors, which was handed over to police officers from the Brigade de répression de la délinquance à la personne. Former FFF General Manager Florence Hardouin, who was interviewed in the course of the investigation, initially lodged a complaint. against him, before finally reaching a settlement with the FFF and agreeing not to sue Mr. Le Graët for damages.
A few hours after his departure from the FFF, Me Marembert had announced a libel suit against Amélie Oudéa-Casterathen Minister for Sport, accusing her of having “lied” about the IGESR report. He pointed out a difference between the summary of the document, published on February 15, 2023, and its entirety. She will be tried for defamation by the Court of Justice of the Republic on December 3 and 4.