2023-05-15 21:19:05
“Winning is knowing how to say stop. The message is loud and clear, it is high time for violence in all its forms to stop. Facing the camera, twelve French internationals – six women and six men – including Nikola Karabatic, Laura Flippes, Valentin Porte, and Cléopâtre Darleux, look resolute. They represent the Elite and, more broadly, the handball family. This Monday, the latter met at the Maison du Handball to announce its new communication campaign, while the worlds of football and gymnastics are currently being singled out.
The French Federation, the two professional leagues (LNH and LFH), the social partners (men and women players, professional clubs, coaches), all affirm with one voice their desire to reduce to nothing the various forms of violence listed for several years: incivility , racism, harassment (physical, moral, digital), sexual violence, homophobic and transphobic. Tolerance: zero.
“We are seeing the post-Covid widening of violence, which is extremely strong to combat, presents Philippe Bana, the president of the FFHB. Sport and handball have unfortunately not been spared. Through this campaign, the federation wants to remind that this strong commitment in the face of violence of all kinds represents for it the same value as an Olympic medal. Since 2019, around thirty disciplinary sanctions have thus been observed at the federal level. About forty files are related to sexual violence.
Deputy Vice-President of the federation, Béatrice Barbusse continues: “Regarding homophobic violence, we have been working for more than a year with LGBT associations (Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders). We have also seen more and more cyberbullying, of which members of the French teams have also been victims. Everyone must understand that behind this hatred, there is suffering for the victims. Their lives are destroyed. »
“We have all gone through violence in our journey”
Estelle Nze Minko, captain of the 4th-placed French team at the last Euro, is one of the two Frenchwomen playing for the Győr club, one of the four Champions League semi-finalists. She speaks on behalf of the other Tricolores: “We have all gone through violence in our journey. All the themes evoked affect me, directly or indirectly. In Hungary, there is a lot of racism. » Vincent Gérard, the goalkeeper of the Blues, has been declared main responsible on the web of the defeat in the final of the last World Cup: “I have always played with different people, asserts the one who is also president of the players’ union. When we have rules for living together, we must respect living together. »
Concretely, the campaign is accompanied by actions on the ground. A secure platform for all reports (www.signal.ffhandball.fr) was launched last weekend. A dozen people are listening in complete confidentiality and protection. Visuals and posters are also made available to all handball players.
As part of the World Day Against Homophobia, this Wednesday, the wearing of “rainbow” armbands by the referees of the four professional divisions of French male and female handball (Liqui Moly Starligue, Proligue, Ligue Butagaz Energie, D2F) will be set up between May 17 and May 21. Three LGBT associations will also be highlighted at the start of PSG-Chartres (Sunday, 5 p.m.).
“We say that sport is a reflection of our increasingly violent society,” analyzes David Tebib, Bruno Martini’s successor to the NHL. We are lucky to be a school sport. The idea is that this campaign lasts. For me, hazing should for example no longer exist, there are other methods of integration. Fighting violence is no longer a duty, it is a responsibility that we all have. »
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