Paris (AFP)
The former ice dance champion, Nathalie Péchalat, was elected Saturday new president of the French Federation of ice sports (FFSG), announced its secretary general, but the vote took place in confusion during the general assembly in Paris, the three other candidates requesting the postponement because of the coronavirus epidemic.
Nathalie Péchalat, 36, succeeds Didier Gailhaguet, who has reigned over French skating almost continuously for more than two decades since 1998 (except between 2004 and 2007), but who was forced to resign in early February, after a scandal of sexual violence which hit the federation hard.
According to the official count of the FFSG, she was elected by absolute majority, from the 1st round, with 504 votes (out of 872 possible), against no vote for the only other candidate still registered, Gilles Jouanny.
"I announced on the phone during the GA that I would withdraw my candidacy," Gilles Jouanny had said earlier to AFP, explaining that he could not travel due to a case of coronavirus in his building.
The other two candidates, Damien Boyer-Gibaud and Michel-Ange Marie-Calixte, had officially withdrawn before the vote.
- "A new scandal" -
"We categorically refuse to associate ourselves, as well as our supporters, with a new scandal which strikes our federation: that of the manipulation of the election in order to install a previously designated candidate", denounced Gilles Jouanny, Damien Boyer-Gibaud and Michel-Ange Marie-Calixte, recalling that the government prohibited gatherings of more than 100 people to stem the epidemic of coronavirus and that the general assembly could not take place in good conditions.
160 club presidents were invited to vote, physically at the extraordinary general meeting or by proxy, their weight in votes depending on the size of their structure.
Didier Gailhaguet's sixth term came to an abrupt end after several former skaters, including ex-champion Sarah Abitbol, revealed that they were victims of rape and sexual assault, committed by different coaches, when they were teenagers.
Gailhaguet found himself under pressure, blamed for his proximity to one of the accused coaches, Gilles Beyer, and the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, had called for his resignation.
The election of Nathalie Péchalat, double European champion (2011, 2012) and double world bronze medalist (2012, 2014) is a first, never a woman having never acceded to the presidency of the FFSG.
More generally, it is extremely rare for a woman to rise to this level of responsibility: out of 36 Olympic federations, only two are now chaired by women, the other being fencing.
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