By that point, Le Graet had more or less burned through any remaining goodwill with players, the FFF and the French government, though he’d been in trouble for his public comments before. In 2020, he dismissed Neymar’s claims of racist abuse after a fiery derby between PSG and Marseille by stating that “racism doesn’t exist in football.” This seemed to contradict his remarks from 2019, after several Ligue 1 games were halted temporarily by referees for anti-gay chants, after new rules had been introduced the previous summer granting officials the power to stop play.
“We will make sure there are no more [anti-gay banners and chants], but stopping a game? No,” he said in an interview with French radio station France Info. “I would not stop the games — totally against this — but I would stop a match if there are racist chants, that is clear.”
Beyond his step-down as FFF president, the most damning thing for Le Graet involves recent revelations about his alleged behaviour with women. Some current and former federation female employees have complained about his inappropriate behaviour via words, gestures or messages, according to reports in France. The nation’s sports minister had asked for an audit back in October about the way the FFF is functioning under the 81-year-old, and the findings from the three experts collecting the information could be even more damaging. The audit will be published Monday.
