FFF: "I decided on my own to leave a good month ago" (Noël Le Graët)

"I had no reason to say on 10/01/2023 'I am leaving'. The timing was right. Nobody convinced me. I decided on my own to leave a while ago, a good month ago. I had no desire, no courage, no will. There was an incredible bludgeoning. I knew that I would not come back," declared Noël Le Graët in interviews with L'Équipe and Le Monde on 28/02/2023, just after the announcement of his resignation as president of the Fédération Française de Football.

Noël Le Graët will have been president of the FFF for 4,273 days (11 years, 8 months and 10 days), from his election on 18/06/2011 to his resignation on 28/02/2023. But although he has decided to leave his post, he continues to plead not guilty: "We will challenge the report (of the audit mission) judicially before the administrative court first. The case will be referred to the court to challenge this report, which contains completely inconsistent information and was done without any common sense. The responsibility of the state will be called into question and I expect moral, not financial, compensation."

• Inappropriate behaviour towards…