Noël Le Graët accused of sexual harassment: the chilling testimony of an accuser

Interviewed by BFM TV, player agent Sonia Souid said she was the victim of sexual harassment by the president of the French Football Federation, Noël Le Graët.

While Noël Le Graët, the president of the French Football Federation has been in turmoil for a few days, after remarks about Zinédine Zidane – for which he apologized – he is now the target of much more serious accusations. Questioned by BFM TV, this Monday, January 9, 2023, the players’ agent Sonia Souid claims to have been the victim of sexual harassment for almost 4 years. In a long testimony, the young woman explains that she met the leader in 2013 to discuss his position regarding women’s football. A first meeting in public followed, a few months later, by an invitation to the home of Noël Le Graët, in order to introduce him to Brigitte Henriques (then secretary general, in charge of the development of women’s football).

“I take a huge slap…“

But, as Sonia Souid recounts with emotion, at the microphone of our colleagues, this evening is not going to go as planned: “I go to his apartment, when I arrive there is champagne. I’m quite surprised but well I remain stoic and I wait. We talk, we talk about women’s football. Except that Brigitte Henriques is not coming, and besides, she never will. I don’t know if he told her about this meeting. I do not think so“, she confides, before revealing the inappropriate advances of Noel Le Graet: “During this meeting, he clearly tells me that if we were closer, my ideas would come to fruition. In any case, he would be much more motivated to help me in this direction. And there in fact, I take a huge slap. Because I have my president of the French Football Federation who sees me… While I feel competent and legitimate because I have managed to do things even in difficulty, excuse me for the term but my president sees me as two breasts and an ass in fact. I was disappointed by my president. For me, my president must be exemplary. And he wasn’t“, testifies the agent, moved.

The message of support from the Minister of Sports

In the rest of the interview (broadcast in full this Tuesday) Sonia Souid evokes the personality of the leader, speaking of someone “who is very sure of himself and who thinks everything is allowed“. After sharing these first accusations, the Minister of Sports Amelie Oudea-Castera wanted to support the players’ agentposting a message on Twitter: “Congratulations Sonia Souid for the courage of your testimony. Our audit will be worthy of it. See you soon“, she wrote, referring to the investigation recently launched at the French Football Federation and in the context of which Noël Le Graët should also quickly be heard by his ministry. The latter had already made the subject to similar accusations, which he had always denied.