Two investigations have been opened in Paris, after the cross complaints of the president of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) Brigitte Henriques and its former secretary general Didier Séminet, AFP learned on Saturday from the Paris prosecutor’s office, confirming information from franceinfo . These two investigations were entrusted to the Brigade for the Suppression of Delinquency against Persons (BRDP).
Less than 500 days from the Olympic Games in Paris, the French Olympic Committee is sinking a little further into a crisis, triggered in September, after the ousting of the Secretary General, Didier Seminet, at the request of the President, Brigitte Henriques . The separation had been recorded on September 12, after heated debates within the executive office, then the Board of Directors, some administrators fearing for the unity of the body.
A week later, Brigitte Henriques filed a complaint against Didier Séminet for “psychological violence”, before stepping back from the head of the CNOSF for a few weeks and being replaced by a quartet of leaders, plunging the institution into a situation unprecedented. Believing to have experienced “a real media lynching” Didier Séminet, who remains a member of the board of directors, had in turn filed a complaint against Brigitte Henriques for “slanderous denunciation and breach of trust”.
The crisis then took a financial turn, with several expenses, including taxi bills, pointed out. Described as “errors”, these expenses had been reimbursed by the president, for a total amount of around 4,000 euros. A reimbursement which, however, had not made it possible to calm the claims of opponents, who had requested access to the accounts. In their audit, they highlighted the use of lawyers and crisis agencies (about 60,000 euros in total), whose missions would have aimed in particular to establish a strategy to dismiss the now ex-secretary general.
Worried, according to our information, of the situation and the image sent back to the international, less than 500 days from the Games in Paris, the International Olympic Committee had dispatched two French representatives of the IOC, Jean-Christophe Rolland and David Lappartient. Shortly before the reception for the fiftieth anniversary of the CNOSF (boycotted by several personalities from the sports movement), the two leaders, who wanted to understand the situation, had spoken with Brigitte Henriques, surrounded by some of her advisers.
To “put an end” to the cabal of which she considers herself a victim for months, the President then announced that she was seizing “the CIO to achieve a Internal Audit “. The latter not being, it seems, not empowered to do so, the request should not be successful. Justice will now try to shed light on the situation, while the next board of directors must be held on April 12 and the Olympics, in less than 500 days.