Los Angeles (AFP)

The US Department of Justice (Doj) has opened an investigation into sexual abuse in the country's Olympic sports, focusing on failures in sporting matters, according to the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

The investigations, which will focus on American gymnastics, result from the Larry Nassar scandal.

The latter, then doctor of the American team, assaulted between 1996 and 2014 more than 350 gymnasts, among which the Olympic champions Gabrielle Douglas, Aly Raisman and Simone Biles. Most victims, of both sexes, were minors.

Nassar was arrested and charged with child pornography at the federal level and sexual violence by the state. He has been serving life imprisonment after pleading guilty.

The Department of Justice is currently studying the "shortcomings, in the broadest sense of the word, of the Olympic system when it comes to responding to the signs of widespread abuse of children," says the Wall Street Journal, citing a source close the file, without however specifying whether his action has begun.

The daily adds that prosecutors have already interviewed witnesses and collected documents from the US Center for Safesport, an organization set up two years ago to handle information about abuse in American sport.

When asked, the US Olympic Committee (USOPC) did not confirm this information.

"Every case related to potential or actual abuse of athletes deserves an in-depth investigation, we have responded to all government requests and we will continue to do so," said USOPC spokesman Mark Jones. in a statement.

In late July, two US senators, Jerry Moran and Richard Blumenthal, introduced a bill to strengthen congressional control over the US Olympic Committee.

Various US Olympic federations have been shaken by a series of sex abuse scandals for more than a decade.

The taekwondo, swimming, skating and judo teams, among others, have also been the subject of serious allegations of sexual abuse and have been criticized for their inability to handle these situations, even before the Nassar scandal hit the headlines. newspapers.

© 2019 AFP