Justice. Sports Minister Oudéa-Castera referred to trial for defamation against Le Graët

The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) on Thursday ordered the referral for trial of Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera for defamation against the former boss of French football Noël Le Graët, indicated the attorney general at the Court of Cassation Rémy Heitz.

Le Graët filed a defamation complaint in April 2023

The person who acts as public prosecutor at the CJR announced in a press release this referral, resulting from a procedure triggered by a complaint from Noël Le Graët in April 2023 following comments made by Amélie Oudéa-Castera, also Minister of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, on his management of the French Football Federation (FFF).

“This decision follows a defamation complaint filed on April 24, 2023 by Mr. Noël Le Graët. It concerns comments made by Ms. Amélie Oudéa-Castera, in the exercise of her duties as minister, during a press conference on February 15, 2023 and an interview on March 5, 2023,” continues the Chief Prosecutor of France. “The decision rendered today by the investigating committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic is likely to be the subject of an appeal in cassation, within five days,” Mr. Heitz further emphasizes.

The only court empowered to judge ministers in the exercise of their functions, the CJR had opened a judicial investigation in June 2023 to examine the complaint of the former boss of French football. The ephemeral Minister of National Education had been indicted on December 14, 2023.

The former French football leader is himself the subject of an investigation

After eleven years of reign, Noël Le Graët resigned from the FFF with a bang in February 2023, following a damning audit report from the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) on his management, against a backdrop of accusations of sexual harassment.

The IGESR inspectors considered that Mr Le Graët “no longer had the necessary legitimacy to administer and represent French football”, particularly given his “inappropriate behaviour (…) towards women”. A few hours after Mr Le Graët’s departure, his lawyer, Thierry Marembert, announced a complaint against Ms Oudéa-Castera. He claimed that the minister had “lied” about this report.

The former French football boss is himself the subject of an investigation in Paris, following accusations of moral and sexual harassment. He was heard in this procedure, in a free hearing, on January 29.