The case shakes the handball world. In a statement released Thursday, the Association of Professional Handball Players (AJPH) denounces "unacceptable practices that would have taken place in a club Butagaz Energy League (first division of the championship of France, Editor's note)". Pregnancy tests have been carried out on the players of the Nantes Atlantique Handball. The president of the Women's Handball League, Nodjialem Myaro, should communicate shortly. But the former French international first wants to unravel the threads of the case and talk to the players.
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"The doctor does his job and tries to do it right"
The club management has scheduled to speak this Friday afternoon. At the start, these tests were part of the biological assessments carried out by all the clubs at the start of the season. Clearly, the idea was to have an accurate picture of the players' form before the championship begins. But the prescription of the analyzes to detect a state of pregnancy would have been made without the knowledge of the players. An illegal practice, denounced therefore by the AJPH.
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The main question lies in the responsibility of the case: who asked to practice these tests? Arnaud Ponroy, president of the Nantes club, said on Friday that he had asked for nothing and denied any bad attention. These tests were of course done with the endorsement of the players, "he assured our colleagues in The Team. " Our doctor considers that he must know if the high-level athlete in front of him is pregnant or not. One, to possibly adjust the workload and two, to adapt any medications. The doctor does his job and tries to do it well, "he explains to the sports daily.
AJPH recently learned of unacceptable practices that have taken place in a @LBE_Officiel club
❌ Prescribing a blood pregnancy test without the agreement or consent of the players is ILLEGAL ⛔
Press release ➡️ https://t.co/ZLZqBACYvSpic.twitter.com/oVXUCW9PoI