“The big unpacking in sports federations eight months before the Olympic Games”

2023-11-12 07:00:13

We thought French sport was recovering, but it is still sick with its governance. For several weeks, each hearing – or almost – of the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the failings of sports federations has brought its share of revelations and edifying testimonies. The deputies are interested in sexist and sexual violence, discrimination of all kinds, as well as questions of corruption. The spectrum is broad, and we can criticize a lack of guiding principle. But the commission has the merit of helping to free speech.

And for an ecosystem accustomed to washing (or not) its dirty laundry with the family, this is the big unpacking: athletics, gymnastics or even fencing would do little to ward off sexual predators; figure skating, by which the abscess was burst thanks to the testimony in early 2020 of Sarah Abitbol, ​​would still be under the control, behind the scenes, of the sulfurous Didier Gailhaguet, the former president of the French Ice Sports Federation; kickboxing would concentrate all the evils, in particular alleged acts of sexual blackmail, prostitution or arms trafficking.

These few examples are not isolated in French sport and it becomes legitimate today to wonder which body is not affected. The Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, had nevertheless promised it: with her, things would change.

We saw her on the front line at the start of the year, during the resignations of the presidents of the football federations, Noël Le Graët, and of rugby, Bernard Laporte. “My hand will not tremble”promised “AOC” at the end of 2022, which then continued the work initiated by its predecessor at the ministry, Roxana Maracineanu.

Lack of will

A year later, nothing has changed, or very little. Neither has the profile of sports leaders, for many years: in the overwhelming majority, white men, of a certain age. The law of March 2, 2022 aimed at democratizing sport imposes parity and term limits, but it will only be applicable to the next federal elections, in 2024.

Certainly, there are reasons for satisfaction. Reports of violence – and therefore their legal treatment – ​​are on the rise on the Signal-Sports government platform, proof that speech is freed. Efforts are also being undertaken by federations to prevent and punish reprehensible behavior and support victims, argues David Lappartient. The president of the French Olympic Committee recalled this in a vitriolic letter addressed to deputies Sabrina Sebaihi (Nupes, Hauts-de-Seine) and Béatrice Bellamy (Horizons, Vendée), respectively rapporteur and president of the commission of inquiry.

You have 30% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.