Sports agent Sonia Souid has accused French football federation president Noel Le Graet of making improper sexual advances toward her.
The 37-year-old Sonia Souid accused the 81-year-old Noel Le Graet of only being interested in her sexually over several years.
Meanwhile, Noel Le Graet has previously been alleged with claims of sexual harassment, while the French football federation is under investigation ordered by Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera.
The investigation order was issued in September after the FFF said it would file a defamation suit against So Foot magazine, which reported that Le Graet allegedly harassed several female employees.
The French magazine published a six-page inquiry citing unidentified former and current female employees, and inappropriate text messages that Le Graet allegedly sent to the women.
The federation has scheduled an emergency meeting on Wednesday following these accusations.
And the latest scandal is that of Sonia Souid, a former volleyball player and now sports agent who said in an interview with L’Equipe sports daily that Le Graet repeatedly attempted to approach her from 2013-17.
Sonia Souid accused the French football president of being sexually interested in her.
Souid said, “He never looked at me like an agent but like a piece of candy.”
The 37-year-old Souid further revealed that while she wanted to create a business relationship with Le Graet to promote women’s football, the French football executive was more interested in sleeping with her.
Souid confessed that Le Graet left several messages on her voicemail late in the evening, attempting to invite her to drink champagne.
While talking about the 81-year-old Le Graet, she also said, “He is very seductive. He is a very self-confident person who also believes that everything is allowed.”
Souid said she first met Le Graet in 2013 and informed L’Equipe that he texted her to ask her out or tell her he missed her.
Souid revealed Le Graet never went too far verbally before he made his intention clear that she should have sex with him before he can proceed with her ideas.
The 37-year-old Souid said she was embittered by Le Graet’s foul attitude that she thought about ending her career as a sports agent.
When questioned whether Le Great helped her professionally at some point, Solid revealed the 81-year-old French executive helped her find the phone number of coach Corinne Diacre and that he also tried to assist her with business class plane tickets for France football star Amandine Henry.
Aside from his role as French football federation president, Le Graet has also been a member of the FIFA Council since being appointed by UEFA in May 2019, a position that earns him $250,000 annually.
The 81-year-old Le Graet is a candidate for another four-year term on FIFA’s ruling committee.
His challenger for the office is Portuguese football federation president Fernando Gomes and the election is set for April 5, when UEFA member nations meet in Lisbon.
Meanwhile, the head of the French Football Federation’s (FFF) national ethics committee Patrick Anton has called for Le Graet to step down from his role.
The old man Le Graet has had a turbulent week in France after saying he “couldn’t care less” about France legend Zinedine Zidane’s future as a coach.
And it’s of this opinion that Patrick Anton told the French newspaper L’Equipe that: “Le Graet has made comments that show he has lost some of his lucidity. He is a man who is tired, and who needs to move on.”
“We need strong and serene governance, which unfortunately is no longer the case. All season long we have to apply the rules of ethics to leaders — especially district and league presidents — and refer cases to disciplinary committees because they have crossed the line.”
“As far as the president of the federation is concerned, while we do not intend to refer the matter to a disciplinary committee, we can only ask him to step down in the best interests of football.”
