The Minister of Sports “shocked” by the “above ground” remarks of Noël Le Graët

The towel is burning between the Ministry of Sports and the French Football Federation (FFF), as the World Cup in Qatar approaches (November 20 – December 18). This Friday morning on RTL, Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said she was “shocked” by the reaction of the president of the FFF, Noël Le Graët, in the program Further investigation broadcast Thursday on France 2, after viewing images of the living conditions of subcontractor workers at the Hôtel des Bleus in the small emirate.

Following this report showing cramped rooms infested with cockroaches where the workers piled up on bunk beds, “NLG” calmly replied to the journalist who questioned him: “It’s not insoluble that, it’s blows paint. There’s still time to fix that.” “I can show you lots of images like that in lots of countries, maybe even not far from here,” he continued from his Paris office.

“This reaction shocked me, I found it to be above ground,” said the Minister of Sports. “She lacked humanity and even lucidity,” she added. “The FFF must take its share of responsibility and do everything in its power to improve the situation on the subject of working conditions and respect for human rights at its base camp. Compared to the very shocking images we saw yesterday, reactions are needed, ”she said.

Several other grievances

These images led the FFF to announce an on-site verification mission, verifications which “made it possible to dismiss the security company” because of “numerous unacceptable irregularities”, explains the federation in a letter of October 2 produced by the emission.

Before this new controversy, relations were already not looking good. At the beginning of October, the minister had sent a letter to the FFF asking it to provide proof of its action concerning human rights during the World Cup in Qatar. “I had a first return which honestly did not remove the doubts, so I will not let them go on the subject”, explained Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. “I want us to be vigilant and irreproachable, she hammered. They are committed to meeting there in the next few days, they must do the job. »

The minister also affirmed that she would draw all the consequences of the ongoing audit mission at the FFF, while new anonymous testimonies from ex-employees, disclosed by Radio France on Wednesday, evoked “inappropriate” behavior. of Noël Le Graët, which he “firmly disputes”.

“I want this federation to be exemplary in the way it takes up this major issue,” said the minister, referring to gender-based and sexual violence. “We are going to carry out this work independently, respecting the contradictory, methodically” and “my hand will not shake when drawing all the conclusions”, she assured. What to start the placidity of the president of the first sports federation of France?