Favorite of the ballot, Noël Le Graët, 79, was reappointed, Saturday, March 13, to the presidency of the French Football Federation (FFF), against Frédéric Thiriez and Michel Moulin. Le Breton, former mayor of Guingamp and former president of En Avant, has held this post since 2011 and has been extended in office for four years.
This is the third time, after 2012 and 2017, that the Guingamp-based entrepreneur has been returned to his post. He was declared the winner with 73.02% of the votes of the Federal Assembly, against 25.11% for his historic rival, the lawyer and former leader of the Professional League (LFP) Frédéric Thiriez, and 1.87% to the businessman and club advisor Michel Moulin.
Reclaiming amateur football
The Breton entrepreneur, traditionally widely supported by professional football, has also won over the amateur world. The latter represented 63% of the votes of the Federal Assembly and its 207 members cast out of 218 in total, made up of the presidents of regional and district leagues, as well as other delegates from local authorities and clubs.
Meeting by videoconference for health reasons, the Federal Assembly has apparently been convinced by its wish to now open “The period of the reconquest”, that of licensees, educators and volunteers after a sharp drop following the Covid-19 crisis.
Nor his few public slippages, as when he said about the deleterious climate among the Blues that they could “Pulling your hair” As long as they won, neither the criticisms of his internal management of the FFF, considered authoritarian by his detractors, were enough for his opponents.
But the strong man of French football, architect of the second star won by the Blues at the 2018 World Cup and at the origin of the appointment of coach Didier Deschamps, was able to remain unperturbed in the face of the attacks, believing he had “No lessons to be learned from anyone”, while sportingly the three major selections (male, female, Espoirs) are qualified for the Euro.
