Sometimes the most difficult thing is not to get to the top, but to come down. To know when it’s time to bow out and give way to the youngest. Do not play the game too much, the one that will make you switch to the side of the has been who cling desperately to the branches of a long gone past.
A whole art that some have been able to handle to perfection. Like Zinédine Zidane, who left on a whim of course, but in the final of a World Cup of which he was still named best player. Or Roger Federer, whose outing with great fanfare in front of the elite of world tennis last year in London, will act as masterclass in the area for a while.
Class, some lack it, unfortunately, when it’s time to hang up. And just because the retirement age is about to go up a few years doesn’t mean it should be used as an excuse.
Especially when he has been overtaken for a long time, as is the case for the soon-to-be ex-president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët, now 81 years old.
The report of the audit commissioned by the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra on the management and management of the FFF and delivered on Monday is unequivocal on the responsibilities of each other, in particular on those of its president. “Given his behavior towards women, his statements towards women, his public statements and the failures of the governance of the FFF, Mr. Le Graët no longer has the necessary legitimacy to administer and represent French football. »
So, of course, in this climate of great unpacking which affects, for different reasons, three of the most important federations of French sport (football, rugby and handball), it would be unfair to explain these uncontrolled slippages by the age of the captain alone. .
But knowing how to leave on time can help you avoid overplaying the game. So yes, Mr. Le Graët, it is time to hand over now. The retirement age rang loudly. And the demonstrations of this January 31 will not be able to change anything.
