Paris (AFP)

Gwendal Peizerat, Olympic ice dance champion in 2002, sees a "ray of hope" in the face of "a whole system to rethink" after the resignation of Didier Gailhaguet from the presidency of the French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG), in the midst of a scandal of sexual violence in skating, he explained to AFP on Saturday.

Will he be a candidate for his succession, he who ran against Gailhaguet in 2014? "It's not my current project", but "if I really have to go further, I'm not used to doing things halfway," he replies.

Q: What is your reaction to this resignation?

A: "It is a hope for change, for a new era. It is a prerequisite. But it is only a step. There are many things to rebuild. It is a revolution that Sarah (Abitbol) unleashed with her revelations (she accuses ex-trainer Gilles Beyer of rape and sexual assault in the early 1990s in a book published last week, note) And in any revolution, there are heads that fall , but there are also things to rebuild after. There is a whole system to rethink. I trust the quality of club volunteers throughout France to bring their ideas, their energies to rebuild something much healthier , more viable, much more modern too, and which, above all, will allow us to never see it again and to protect practitioners, athletes, but also all players in the federation, coaches, volunteers, presidents of clubs, judges, officials ... C is a ray of hope, but there is still a long way to go. "

Q: Do you intend to engage in this reconstruction that you hope for?

A: "Absolutely. Many of us have been thinking for years about how we could make a difference. Today we are a bit taken aback. The fact remains that we want to to animate what could be the Estates General of Ice Sports in order to come up with new ideas, organizational, statutory, elective, and of management of the human, the athlete and the protection of the child ".

Q: You were a candidate for the presidency of the federation in 2014. Do you plan to run again?

A: "It was six years ago. Becoming the president of a federation is not my project at the moment, but I will actively participate in the change. If I really have to go further, I am not used to to do things halfway. But that is not the question today. A week ago, we weren't talking about that at all. It is not a decision to be taken lightly. do not engage like that with a snap of your fingers. It would not be respectful, not serious. We must not try to find a woman or a providential man. The federation must never again be the tool of power of one man".

Interview by Élodie SOINARD.

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