Deschamps stays, but president has to go: 'Two breasts and an ass, that's how he sees me'

French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet has been forced to stand down just weeks after France's defeat in the World Cup final following a series of controversies, the body said on Wednesday. The decision was taken following an emergency meeting of the French Football Federation in Paris.

Le Graet, whose mandate was due to run until 2024, had faced calls to resign after what he admitted were "clumsy remarks" about Zinedine Zidane's potential interest in coaching the French national team. The 81-year-old, who has been president of the FFF since 2011, had said in an interview with radio station RMC on Sunday that he "wouldn't even have taken his call" when asked whether Zidane, a World Cup winner as a player and an all-time France great, had rung him to express an interest in taking over as coach from Didier Deschamps.

"Noel Le Graet, in agreement with the FFF executive committee gathered today in Paris, has chosen to step down from his role as president until the completion of the audit performed by the sports ministry" the federation said.

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According to RMC, the meeting lasted two hours and 14 members of the Comex of the FFF had a fierce debate.

“If the report completely clears the president, I would like someone to explain to me why he would be forced to resign. Either he committed facts which, from a criminal, disciplinary or ethical point of view, are reprehensible, it will be in the report and in this case, there is no subject and he himself told us 'I will resign'. the report is positive and clears him... in the name of what he would leave his post? The report will be a bit of the arbiter” said Eric Borghini.

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Apart from the problems with Zidane, Le Graet also had to deal with accusations of mistreatment by employees at the FFF, which led to the French government launching an audit of the federation in the first place. He was also in the middle of another scandal, this time with player’s agent Sonia Souid making the accusations about sexual harassment.

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Souid talked with Le Graet about the state of women football back in 2013, and then invited her to his house, claiming that The French Olympic Committee president Brigitte Henriques will also attend. But she didn’t and they ended up dining alone in his house.

"During this meeting, he told me clearly that if we were closer, my ideas would materialize, chained the agent during his testimony. In any case, he would be much more motivated to help me in this meaning. 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” she said in an interview for BFMTV. Plenty of reasons for Le Graet to step down indeed.