The chairperson of the French Football Federation not only put his job on the line by insulting Zinedine Zidane but also by allegedly sexually harassing a former football agent.
Noël Le Graët claimed he wouldn’t pick up the phone to the great Zizou to talk about taking the job of French national team manager.
The 81-year-old has been the boss of French football since 2011 but resigned this week amid serious accusations of sexual harassment.
The legendary Zidane is not only one of the best football players to come out of France but one of the better managers as well, winning several trophies at the helm of Real Madrid.
Le Graët’s dismissive comment about Zidane not only frustrated French football fans, but also angered superstar Kylian Mbappe, who posted an Instagram story in support of Zidane earlier this week.
If that didn’t leave Le Graët on the brink of losing his job, former football agent Sonia Souid has now accused the football chief of sexual harassment.
The agent claimed Le Graët promised to put her plans of women’s development into action if the pair “become close”, The Times reported.
Souid recalled a meeting in 2017 between the two of them where the head of women’s football, Brigitte Henriques, was due to be present but never arrived.
She also recalled Le Graët offering her a glass of champagne before saying: “If we are close enough to each other, I will manage to put your ideas into practice.”
Souid declined both offers before promptly leaving the apartment of the football chief.
“He just saw me as a girl whose only purpose was to get into bed with him,” she said.
Making matters worse, Souid claimed that Le Graët continued over the next four years to bother her with sexual advances.
The agent revealed a text message she received from the football chief that read: “Sonia, I’m on my third bottle. I am expecting you for the fourth.”
Le Graët, as he would, denied all the allegations pinned against him after being questioned by government inspectors.
“I have never had the slightest inappropriate gesture towards a woman in my whole life,” he said in response to the allegations.
Later on Wednesday Le Graët resigned from his role as football chief of the French Federation.
Pictured above: Noël Le Graët
Image source: Get French Football News
