Paris (AFP)

Strongly shaken by a series of revelations of sexual violence, undermined by a fall in practitioners since the health crisis, French judo elects its president on Sunday, a duel between Jean-Luc Rougé, in office since 2005, and his challenger, the former -judoka Stéphane Nomis.

There are calmer climates leading up to federal elections.

Judo, one of the most popular sports in France with 500,000 licensees, is in the midst of catharsis.

And, like others, seems to discover, stunned, the extent of the evil that strikes him.

"What judo is going through is shocking, it is also quite tense at the moment," admits a former judoka who requested anonymity.

For nearly three weeks, judo, like other sports before it, has lived to the rhythm of revelations on sexual violence.

Speech is freed, and testimonies are pouring in especially since the story, in the Parisian at the beginning of November, of a former student telling of having been raped by her trainer when she was a minor.

- "Omerta" -

According to a final score, around thirty cases of sexual violence - out of nearly 340 all sports combined - were identified in judo by the cell set up at the beginning of the year by the Ministry of Sports.

"That's a lot", we recognize.

Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu has decided to launch an inspection mission, the conclusions of which will fall well after this election, the results of which are expected late Sunday afternoon.

"It's good that the word is free. We must break the omerta," said Stéphane Nomis, 50, former international judoka, now CEO of an IT company, and the only candidate against Jean-Luc Rougé, 71 years old .

"I am still surprised at the extent that this has in our sport, which one would have thought, given our moral code, that it was less affected".

This tornado will it Sunday the former world champion, in place since 2005?

Difficult to say, even if in the presidential camp one expects "a close election".

"We will see. People know me. It is an extremely difficult period that judo is going through. I am of course devastated, it is a real shock, and at the same time it is good that the word is freed", the current president of the federation explained to AFP.

The outgoing president has also planned, if he was re-elected, to devote a vice-presidency to the fight against sexual violence, as well as to that against radicalism.

"It's a real scourge, much more important than what we thought," he admits.

At least one case could splash the high authorities.

Thursday, a preliminary investigation was opened by the Lille prosecutor's office for acts of sexual assault against three victims targeting a former member of the federal executive committee in his sixties.

"But the world of judo has been buzzing with rumors about it for years," assures a former judoka on condition of anonymity about this case which has become very sensitive.

"This is perhaps only the beginning of the story, other victims will certainly come to the fore," she adds.

Seven files concerning this former president of the League of Nord-Pas-de-Calais have so far been identified by the cell, according to a ministerial source.

Have the authorities protected it?

The inspection mission and the judicial inquiry should clarify this sensitive point.

"There are some who must be trembling at the moment," said the source close to the matter.

- "Change" -

This case, like the others, could weigh heavily on Sunday in the choice made by more than 250 departmental delegates.

"There is no photo, people want change, assures Stéphane Nomis. But even before that people had felt uneasy. We are coming to the end of a system of cronyism, we have reached the limit of this operation . "

In addition to this deleterious climate, judo takes the full brunt of the closure of clubs since the reconfinement, and loses nearly 2,000 members per day according to a source at the federation.

The economic difficulties to come for the clubs, to bring back on the tatamis its half a million practitioners, to mobilize the volunteers in the clubs: so many files which, in addition to that of sexual violence, accumulate on the office of the next president of a federation in the midst of turbulence.

© 2020 AFP