The cloth burns between Didier Gailhaguet, president of the French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG) and the Ministry of Sports. In the aftermath of the call for resignation launched by Minister Roxana Maracineanu of which he was the subject, following revelations of sexual assaults in figure skating, the head of the body held a river press conference , Wednesday February 5.

An intervention during which he gave his feelings on the situation, hammered his ignorance of the facts at the time and ruled out any possibility of resigning immediately. Gailhaguet, 66, said he was "very affected" by "the shock wave that hit the world of ice sports, but also the world of sport as a whole".

"These kids, who are women today, are people that I have trained, led, and that I know. I know them well, I like them, and I am dismayed," he added. , castigating the "bastards" who were the perpetrators of these attacks.

Maracineanu, a "moralizing minister"

The president of the FFSG then outlined the various cases that affected the world of figure skating. "There was not a single case during my presidency that was not treated," he said, regularly scratching the passage of the management of several files by the successive sports ministries.

A guardianship with which he admitted having had many disagreements. He is unsurprisingly returned to the statements of current Minister Roxana Maracineanu, who called for his resignation the day before, Tuesday, February 4, after their tense interview. He regretted the attitude of a "moralizing minister" who, "draped in his certainties, did not hear him".

"To be resigned, I would have to have committed a fault. However, I did not commit any," he also repeated several times, explaining that he was deferring to the conclusions of the general inspection requested by the Minister before taking any decision.

"Not a bunch of sexual perverts"

On the specific case of Sarah Abitbol, ​​who revealed in a book that he had been the victim of his trainer Gilles Beyer, he also claimed his innocence. "I absolutely did not protect Gilles Beyer, I am the one who carried out the investigation near the minister," he even assured.

Gailhaguet also had a few words about the FFSG volunteers, not without having again defended the accusations against him in recent days. "Who are we kidding? Stigmatizing a president of a federation, admittedly imperfect, but hardworking, is disgusting. Last but not least, the federation is dirty. […] I want to re-establish the truth, because we have people fantastic guys doing a remarkable job on the field, for the kids and only for the kids. "

"The Federation […] it is absolutely not a bunch of sexual perverts who have the culture of rape", he insisted, recalling that "there is no perfect federation because it is society and men who are not. "

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