The football functionary is threatened with a penalty – Newspaper Kommersant No. 8 (7453) of 01/18/2023

Former President of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noel Le Gret has become a defendant in a criminal case of sexual harassment. The case was opened at the request of sports agent Sony Sweed. According to her, Mr. Le Gret made it clear to her that if she wanted his professional help, she should be accommodating. Note that the troubles with Noel Le Gret began after he said that he would not even pick up the phone if the legendary French football player Zinedine Zidane called him.

On Tuesday, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced that the former president of the FFF, 81-year-old Noel Le Gret, became a defendant in a criminal case of sexual harassment. The case was opened at the request of sports agent Sony Sweed. Ms. Sweed is 37 years old, she used to play volleyball, after her career she retrained as a sports agent and also manages the affairs of football players. So, according to her testimony, Noel Le Gret “made it quite clear when we were in his apartment that if I wanted his assistance, I should be accommodating.”

“He never saw me as an agent. He always looked at me like I was candy. I am one of the few female agents who tries to prove herself. But despite this, I understood that he was only interested in my chest and ass. It’s humiliating,” says Sonia Suid.

True, the events that Ms. Suid told about, according to her own words, took place almost ten years ago, when she was 28, and Noel Le Gret was 72.

It should be noted that Mr. Le Gret’s accusations of inappropriate behavior towards women appeared in September last year. Then edition so foot reported that the president of the FFF probably harassed several employees of the federation at once. FFF responded by announcing its intention to file a libel suit.

It is noteworthy that until the first decade of January, the scandalous story of Noel Le Gret developed very slowly. But as soon as he crossed the invisible red line, everything changed.

In an interview with Mr. Le Gret RMC he also talked about French football legend Zinedine Zidane.

Speaking about the prospects for his employment, he spoke disparagingly of the former leader of the national team and coach, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid three times. “He can go to any club, to any national team (the conversation happened after the FFF extended the contract with the head coach of the French national team Didier Deschamps.— “b”). I do not care. Did Zidane try to contact me? Of course not. Yeah, I wouldn’t pick up the phone anyway. Tell him to look for another club? Or maybe we need to arrange a special competition so that he can find a club or a national team? said Monsieur Le Gret. His words were reprinted by all the leading publications of the world. As a result, the president of the FFF hit under massive criticism. The words of the head of the FFF were outraged by the former and current stars of French football, such as Franck Ribery, Hugo Lloris and Kylian Mbappe, the country’s sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, many other celebrities and high-ranking officials. Moreover, Ms. Oudea-Castera, after demanding an apology from Noel Le Greta, said that French President Emmanuel Macron did not like his words.

Mr. Le Gret, who insisted that the statements “do not correspond to his real attitude towards Zinedine Zidane”, brought an apology. But it did not help.

The FFF Executive Committee, which held an extraordinary meeting devoted almost exclusively to the fate of Noel Le Gret, was forced to remove the head of the federation from office. Vice-President Philippe Diallo has been appointed interim head of the federation.

Alexander Petrov