French sport sick of its governance

2023-05-26 11:00:01

QWhen all eyes are on you, it’s better to look your best. For many months, this evidence could no longer pass through the doors of the Maison du sport français, which houses the headquarters of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), in Paris. Thursday, May 25, the backlash was brutal for its president, Brigitte Henriques, who submitted her resignation, the only solution to put an end to the pitched battle which was undermining the tricolor sports movement.

Just over 400 days before the opening of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, it had become even more of a necessity, a question of image sent back to the whole world. On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which generally takes care not to interfere in the affairs of national committees, even asked the CNOSF to “to focus” on the upcoming deadline, by calling “to everyone’s responsibility so that internal conflicts (…) cease ».

The case that prompted M^me Henriques initially became over time a complex web of accusations – mixing abuse of social good, psychological violence, defamation, abusive expenses or expense reports – between the president of the CNOSF, her predecessor, Denis Masseglia, and her former secretary General, Didier Seminet. Two preliminary investigations have been opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

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Beyond the reasons for the conflict which shakes the CNOSF, it is the question of the governance of sport in France which is once again posed. M^me Henriques is the third leading representative of the tricolor authorities to be pushed towards the exit in 2023, after the resignations of Bernard Laporte from the French Rugby Federation, on January 27, and that of Noël Le Graët from the French Football Federation, February 28. Are we done? Not sure. Other federations – notably that of tennis – are worrying.

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The Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, has been active in resolving these repeated crises. Thursday, she called “an ethical and democratic leap from the CNOSF”. But the departure of those who have pitifully failed in their mission, forgetting that the ethical rules that apply in the rest of society also apply to sports federations, is only a first step.

Exemplary values

France must now equip itself with mechanisms to improve the functioning of sports bodies in the long term. The law of March 2, 2022 aimed at its democratization includes a section on the renewal of the governance framework of the federations which has not yet produced any visible effects.

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At the initiative of M.^me Oudéa-Castéra, a national committee to strengthen ethics and democratic life in sport was set up on 29 March. It brings together recognized personalities, including former sports minister Marie-George Buffet and ex-athlete Stéphane Diagana. It is to be hoped that the ideas that will emerge will allow the French sports movement to finally reconnect with the values ​​of exemplarity that sport itself is supposed to convey.

The issue is crucial for practitioners and volunteers of small clubs, for all lovers of the sporting spectacle in the broad sense, as well as for high-level athletes. A new start is imperative on the eve of the big meeting of the Olympic Games in Paris.

The world