The fight between Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and Noël Le Graët is not quite over yet. The Minister of Sports was indicted in December in the investigation by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) after the defamation complaint by Noël Le Graët, former president of the FFF, AFP learned on Thursday from source close to the case, confirmed by the general prosecutor of the Court of Cassation.
A judicial investigation has been open to the CJR, the only jurisdiction authorized to judge ministers in the exercise of their functions, since June 21 to examine the complaint of the former boss of French football, who criticizes the minister for the proposals made in February 2023 on his management of the French Football Federation (FFF).
At the opening of the judicial investigation, the Ministry of Sports assured that Ms. Oudéa-Castera was “serene” and “ready to respond”, which she did “publicly and on different occasions in recent months, to the accusations unfounded by Mr. Le Graët.
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President of the most powerful federation between 2011 and 2023, “NLG”, ousted from his post of president on February 28 of that same year (controversial outings on Zidane, Qatar or even accusations of harassment for supposed facts), wishes to clean his honor. “The menhir is crumbling,” said one of his relatives in Le Figaro in an article published on February 27. He misses football, the FFF too, his whole life has been taken away, but he wants to save what is left of his reputation. »
The latter, put under pressure by the Minister of Sports following an audit report considering that he was no longer able to fulfill his presidential duties, intends to win one of the last battles he is waging against to the former Minister of Education. He considers himself the victim of a frame-up. What does Le Graët criticize Oudéa-Castéra? To have played a role in his downfall. By not staying in his lane.
According to Le Monde, the latter would have secretly met, on January 9, 2023, Florence Hardouin, former general director of the FFF, during a mission from the General Inspection of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR), supposedly to be independent.
A few hours after Le Graët’s departure from the FFF, his lawyer announced a complaint, claiming that Ms. Oudéa-Castera had “lied” about this report. He also highlighted a difference between the summary of the document, published on February 15 which mentioned “words” and SMS messages, “words or writings that are ambiguous for some and of a clearly sexual nature for others”, and its entirety. This report has not been made public.
The procedure in matters of press law makes it almost automatic, after a defamation complaint, the referral to an investigating judge and the indictment of the author of the remarks, the substantive debate taking place at the hearing . However, the case law is different before the CJR.
More information to follow…