Noël Yves Marie Le Graët (; born 25 December 1941) is a French businessman, politician and football official. He was the President of the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

(FFF) from 2011 to 2023. He was the vice-president of the FFF from 2005 to 2011.

French Football Federation

Le Graët is very influential within the

(FFF). From 1991 to 2000, he was the president of

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

, the French professional league, and was the vice-president of FFF. In this position, he has broughtthrough acquisition of new sponsors, including of a new supplier contract with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

a substantial improvement of the financial situation of the FFF. Following the resignation of its president, Jean-Pierre Escalettes because of the fiasco of the

France national football team The France national football team () represents France in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Euro ...

at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, Noël Le Graët became as a likely candidate for interim Fernand Duchaussoy to succeed him. On 18 June 2011, during elections of the association's federal assembly in Paris, he surprisingly collected 54.39 per cent of the votes to succeed Fernand Duchaussoy. On 8 January 2023, when asked in a radio interview on

RMC Sport RMC is a private French-Monégasque radio station created in 1943, broadcasting from France with studios in Paris and Monte-Carlo. RMC stands for Radio Monte-Carlo. History Radio Monte-Carlo was created on 1 July 1943. In 1950, Radio Monte-Carl ...

whether he would have considered

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

as a potential successor to

Didier Deschamps Didier Claude Deschamps (; born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been managing the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, Engl ...

as the manager of the France national team, he made comments that players (including national team superstar

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and Captain (association football), captains ...

), politicians and football fans perceived as disrespectful. Le Graët apologised a few days later. On 11 January, he was forced to step back amid an investigation, commissioned by the French

Ministry of Sports A ministry of sports or ministry of youth and sports is a kind of government Ministry (government department), ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young peopl ...

, into alleged sexual harassment of a female football agent. On 28 February, he resigned from his position at FFF, 13 days after the publication of a report by the French General Inspectorate which concluded that his "behavioural excesses are incompatible with the exercise of his functions".

Other activities

Born in a neighbouring city, the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

has built-up in the city of

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

a diversified company in the food industry during the last years, the Le Graët Group. It operates in various locations in the

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

region. With ''Pêcherie d'Armorique'' in Erquy it has its own

fishing fleet A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial fishing Ship, vessels. The term may be used of all vessels operating out of a particular port, all vessels engaged in a particular type of fishing (as in the "tuna fishing fleet"), or all fishing vessel ...

. Among the best known brand names in France belongs Celtigel (frozen meat, fish and vegetable dishes), ''Les Delices de la Mer'' (soups, sauces, bread spreads) and ''Agil Chien/Agil Chat'' (pet food). The group's turnover in 2010 amounted to approximately €163 million. From 1971 to 1992 and again between 2002 and 2011, he was president of the French football club

En Avant de Guingamp En Avant Guingamp (, ), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (), is a French professional football club based in the commune of Guingamp, in France's Brittany region. The club was founded in 1912 and play in Ligue 2, ...

. For two terms, he was also mayor of Guingamp from 1995 to 2008, under the banner of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

Honours

Officer of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

: 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Graet, Noel 1941 births Living people People from Côtes-d'Armor Businesspeople from Brittany French football chairmen and investors Officers of the Legion of Honour Presidents of the French Football Federation