After Noël Le Graët’s withdrawal, former sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra will not be judged for defamation

There will be no defamation trial for Amélie Oudéa-Castera, the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) confirmed on Tuesday December 3, noting the withdrawal of the plaintiff, the former boss of French Football Noël Le Graët.

The latter had filed a defamation complaint against the former minister of sports after resigning from the head of the French Football Federation (FFF) in 2023. He accused him in particular of having “save” by reporting the conclusions of an investigation by the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) which revealed its “behavioral deviations” especially towards women.

Mr. Le Graët did not come to the Paris courthouse on Tuesday morning “for health reasons”points out his lawyer, Florence Bourg. She confirms her client’s withdrawal, which necessarily interrupts the defamation proceedings. This withdrawal was reported to the CJR on November 19, one month after the dismissal of the investigation into moral and sexual harassment targeting Mr. Le Graët. “He has been cleared of the facts, he is in a process of appeasement and he has made the decision to move on”explains M^me Bourg at court.

“Wasted time”

The criminal investigation was closed for “insufficiently characterized offense”not « absence d’infraction »corrects Attorney General Rémy Heitz, visibly upset by this “late withdrawal”the “wasted time” for justice and “inconvenience” generated for the former Minister of Sports during these eighteen months of proceedings. Mr. Le Graët “made a wise and prudent decision” in “sparing” this audience where we “would have publicly detailed his unacceptable language discrepancies”estimates for his part Nicolas Brault, the lawyer of M^me Oudéa-Castéra.

At the helm, the latter, now without « profession »almost regrets not being able to“explain about the totally unfounded character” accusations from Mr. Le Graët. The ex-minister claims to have only resumed “scrupulously” the report on the “repeated behavioral gaps towards women” and the “toxic management” of the latter.

After eleven years of reign – between sporting successes, economic recovery and epilogue in the media storm – Mr. Le Graët left the head of the FFF at the end of February 2023 under pressure after this damning report on his management, against a backdrop of accusations of sexual harassment.