Sexual violence in skating: Didier Gailhaguet strikes back

Text by: RFI Follow

While accusations of sexual assault are increasing in French figure skating and its president is called for resignation by the Minister of Sports, Didier Gailhaguet counterattacked this Wednesday, February 5 in a long press conference.

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No question for Didier Gailhaguet to wear the hat in the management of the Beyer case, named after this ex-trainer suspected of sexual abuse on skaters. Two days after his interview with the Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu, at the end of which she asked him to resign and ordered an administrative inquiry, the president of the French Federation of Ice Sports counter-attacked.

► Read also: Sexual violence: French skating at the heart of a scandal

" Madam Minister did not hear me, she is draped in her certainties, " he said at a press conference, evoking pell-mell " an accused federation, a moralizing minister and opportunists of circumstances that we haven't seen on the ice for 10 years . " As for his resignation, the president of the FFSG reaffirmed that he would position himself once the conclusions of a new administrative investigation, carried out by the ministry, were rendered. That is to say, not for several weeks.

Just before he spoke, government spokeswoman Sibeth N'Diaye said that " obviously " the request for his departure was " shared by the entire government ". This choice of Didier Gailhaguet to hold on to the presidency he has held since 1998 (apart from an interruption between 2004 and 2007) is not unanimous within the FFSG: four of the sixteen members of its executive office resigned on Tuesday evening to express their disagreement.

Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu criticizes the federation led by Didier Gailhaguet for putting Gilles Beyer back on the circuit in the early 2000s, despite an administrative investigation highlighting inappropriate attitudes with young skaters. The investigation had led the ministry to remove Beyer from its ranks in 2001, but the coach had found a place in his home club. He also held mandates with the Federation until 2018.

" I am a clean man ," defended Didier Gailhaguet on Wednesday, claiming never to have heard of rapes committed against Hélène Godard or Sarah Abitbol. " I absolutely did not protect Gilles Beyer, " he summarized, expressing his " disgust " for the reported facts. The president of the FFSG affirmed that he himself had requested this administrative inquiry from Roxana Maracineanu's predecessor, Marie-George Buffet (1997-2002), and that afterwards, the Ministries of Sport and National Education ironed this embarrassing file.

Since the affair broke out last week, Gilles Beyer, 62, has conceded having had " intimate " and " inappropriate " relations with Sarah Abitbol, ​​offering her " apologies " that the latter has refused. Even if the facts denounced in the book of the former skater, Un si long silence , seem prescribed, because they date back to the years 1990 to 1992, when she was 15 to 17 years old, the Paris prosecutor's office announced Tuesday the opening of '' an investigation into rape and sexual assault on minors by a person having authority over the victim.

Sexual violence in sport: a forum to break the omerta

" It's time to give voice ". It is the title of a tribune signed by 54 top athletes in Le Parisien this Wednesday. Among the signatories of this text, which denounces the inaction of the institutions, we find Teddy Riner, ten times world champion in judo, or the skater Nathalie Péchalat. To break the silence, they propose setting up a listening unit for victims and systematic verification of the criminal records of club managers.

And voices are also raised in football. This Wednesday, the president of the Angers club, Saïd Chabane, was taken into custody for aggravated sexual assault following three complaints from employees and former employees of the club. The Angevin president disputes all the allegations.

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