Rabat – Noel Le Graet has stepped down from his duties as the president of France’s Football Federation (FFF), days after making dismissive remarks about French football legend Zinedine Zidane.
“Noel Le Graet, in agreement with the FFF executive committee gathered today in Paris, has chosen to take a step back from his duties as president of the Federation until the final communication of the audit is carried out by the Ministry of Sports, and pending its analysis by the executive committee of the FFF,” read a statement by FFF.
Le Graet has been embroiled in a major controversy for making disrespectful comments about French football player Zidane during his appearance on French radio RMC.
When asked about the possibility of Zidane becoming France’s new head coach, Le Graet said that he would not even pick up the phone if the football star contacted him about potentially replacing current head coach Didier Deschamps.
The former FFF president received immense criticism for his disrespectful comments toward Zidane, who is considered a French football legend.
Paris Saint-Germain player Kylian Mbappe on Sunday took to Twitter to defend Zidane against Le Graet’s comments. “Zidane is France, we don’t disrespect him like that,” Mbappe Tweeted.
Le Graet later apologized for his comments on Zidane, describing his remarks as “clumsy.”
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In addition to Le Graet’s resignation, FFF’s statement indicated that the committee decided to “temporarily lay off” the General Manager of the federation Florence Hardouin.
Meanwhile, FFF’s Deputy Vice-President Philippe Dillo will temporarily take over the duties of both positions.
FFF’s statement also announced extending the contract of France’s head coach Didier Deschamps until 2026.
Besides his offensive comments against Zidane, Le Graet has been involved in a lingering sexual harassment case, Reuters reported.
