The first start of a long series to come? President of the Paris-Ile-de-France League and member of the executive committee of the French Football Federation (FFF), Jamel Sandjak announced Thursday his resignation from the Comex of the FFF. A decision which follows the submission of an audit report damning its president Noël Le Graët. While he still clings, at least temporarily, to the presidency of the “3F”, Le Graët is let go by a first member of his “government”. “Elected to participate in a collective project, today I can only observe our powerlessness to project ourselves towards the challenges of tomorrow”, explains Jamel Sandjak in a press release.
“Faithful to the principles and values that forged my commitments, I have decided to submit my resignation from the executive committee”. The boss of one of the most powerful leagues in France, and former opponent of Noël Le Graët, whom he finally joined during the last FFF election in 2021, also believes that he “was able, on many occasions, to bring a contradictory, fertile and unfortunately sometimes minority reading on major sporting or social subjects”.
Le Graët forced to resign
He is the first member of the Comex of the “3F” to submit his resignation, after the submission in mid-February of the audit report of the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research (IGESR), which pointed to the management of Le Graët, believing that the latter “no longer has the necessary legitimacy to administer and represent French football”, and pinning his “inappropriate behavior towards women”.
Pushed to resign by some relatives and called by the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra to make the “right decisions” on his future, Le Graët continues to deny all accusations of moral and sexual harassment made to him, condemning an audit “Polished with subjectivity”, according to the observations of his lawyers. Since mid-January, he has been under investigation for moral and sexual harassment.
Sandjak candidate to succeed Le Graët?
A meeting of the Comex, Tuesday morning, must draw the conclusions from the audit report to the FFF, in the presence of Noël Le Graët. One of the options, if the Breton leader does not resign on his own, is to see his executive committee resign collectively. This would require seven of its 14 members to resign, which would lead to the departure of Le Graët and the holding of new elections.
In recent months and weeks, the name of Jamel Sandjak has often returned among the potential candidates for the succession of Le Graët at the helm of the most powerful sports federation in France. Many also lend presidential ambitions to Philippe Diallo, vice-president who has acted pending the conclusions of the audit report. The latter would remain interim president until the Federal Assembly in June if Noël Le Graët chooses to resign.