This is the last step in a scandal that shook the world of ice sports in France: the Ministry of Sports announced on Tuesday that the General Inspectorate had taken legal action at the end of its investigative mission into the facts of violence in the figure skating community. This mission brought to light suspicions weighing on about twenty coaches. The president of the French Ice Sports Federation (FFSG), Nathalie Péchalat, reacts to the microphone of Europe 1 on this news, which did not "surprise" her.
21 coaches, "it's not nothing"
"Of the details that I was able to read in this press release, I am not surprised, because these are subjects that have been widely disseminated in the media and mentioned since February", explains the one who succeeded Didier Gailhaguet after the accusations of rape and sexual assault brought at the end of January by the former skater Sarah Abitbol against her ex-trainer, Gilles Beyer.
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In total, among the 21 coaches incriminated, 12 would be implicated for "acts of harassment or sexual assault", of which three were sentenced in the past to terms of imprisonment or suspended. Seven other cases concern "physical or verbal violence". "It's not nothing", affirms Nathalie Péchalat, who indicates to have received the names of some of these coaches "so that we can warn the clubs and protect our licensees".
The FFSG "not yet out of the woods"
But Nathalie Péchalat assures him: "We did not wait for the conclusions of the General Inspectorate to be able to implement actions." It highlights the creation of codes of good conduct, the sensitization of supervisors, the training of all technical executives and other measures taken since his arrival at the head of the FFSG in mid-March. "It takes a few more months to see the work we are doing," she continues.
If the Inspectorate General does not recommend the withdrawal of the delegation of the ministry for the FFSG, an absolute weapon in this area, "we are not out of the woods yet", underlines Nathalie Péchalat: "As long as we have not past October, we are still under ministerial pressure. "
The next step is an extraordinary general assembly, organized at the end of September, to validate the drastic changes undertaken compared to the old management. "We are trying to operate the opposite of the old system", sums up the former ice dancer, determined to definitely turn the page Gailhaguet.