Crisis situation this Friday at the Nantes Atlantique Handball club (NAHB). The publication Thursday evening by the Association of professional handball players (AJPH) of a press release revealing the practice of blood tests aimed at detecting a state of pregnancy without the consent of the players "in a club of Butagaz Energy League" has shaken l 'current third in female D1, quickly emerged as the club in question.
Targeted first, the Nantes president, Arnaud Ponroy, urgently convened a press conference at the club's headquarters in the afternoon. The staging was neat. Coach Allan Heine and eight players were there, alongside him, plus four others seated in the room - out of a staff of 14. “It is true to say that pregnancy tests were carried out [in the summer of 2019]. But it is false to say that they were illegal and carried out without the consent of the players, defended the leader. These are tests carried out at the start of the season, in the rules of the art, with a prior individual interview and issuance of medical certificates. "
Tense atmosphere in Nantes on Friday
The taulers Léa Lignières and Camille Ayglon-Saurina then took the floor to support their president. “These tests were not done without our knowledge. The doctor [Thibaut Berlivet] talked about it, for us it was clear, assured the second, 34 years and 263 selections in the France team. There may have been an understanding problem for some. An argument already advanced in the morning by Arnaud Ponroy to L'Equipe and Ouest-France .
This is what the unions in the #sport ladies use for, among other things ... To avoid being the victim of illegal acts and to defend yourself against unethical leaders sometimes .... #Women #Sportives ⤵️ https: //t.co/uFrSsOPYOR
- Béatrice Barbusse (@bbarbusse) February 13, 2020However, the reality seems more nuanced. At least for some former players that we were able to interview. According to them, "understanding" has nothing to do with it. " Never ! I'm sure we have never been told about this, says a former club license member requesting anonymity. We were asked to take blood samples to find out if everything was fine, if we had deficiencies, and to my knowledge these were the only things they were looking for through these analyzes. "
According to our information, the atmosphere was tense this Friday at the club headquarters, the players not knowing what attitude to adopt. The news in any case agitated the whole of French handball. The phones got hot between players, in particular. "I am shocked, like many I think," reacts former Nanteswoman Wendy Lawson. We're all talking about this. If done without their knowledge, it is illegal. But even, more generally, talking about pregnancy within the framework of an employment contract is discriminatory. I've been pro for years, I've never heard of this kind of test anywhere. Why did Mister Ponroy decide it could exist in his club? It makes no sense ! "
Maternity, a concern for club presidents
NAHB player until 2018, Lawson, accompanied by the German Isabell Klein, attacked the club in the Prud'hommes in September 2018. The two players - who had initially tried to reach a conciliation, in vain - contested the non-payment of a European Cup qualification bonus at the end of the 2017-2018 season, however provided for in their contract. The Council agreed with them, according to a decision rendered in November 2019.
This complaint had nothing in the texts to do with the subject of maternity. These two players, the only two in the squad who had not received their bonus, had in common, however, that they had been affected by a pregnancy during the season. "Everyone is free to think if there is a connection or not," adds Wendy Lawson, who is playing today in Saint-Junien, in National 1.
Being a pro sportswoman should in no case challenge the desire to become a mother.
More and more handball players put their career on hold to have a child, aware of the risk of having a complicated return.
We need the confidence of the clubs, not the other way around! https://t.co/bbX2qqwJjL
More broadly, the attitude of President Ponroy on the subject of motherhood is questioning. Concordant sources, he had not taken at all the announcement of the Spanish Alexandrina Barbosa, on which he had invested a lot in the summer of 2018 and who had announced a few weeks later that she was expecting a child. "He was furious, it marked us," recalls a former player. We talked about it in small groups, there were those who agreed, who thought that it was not normal to get pregnant when you sign in a club, and others who did not agree at all with him. "
Instances take note
In an article in L'Equipe devoted to maternity, in March 2019, Arnaud Ponroy had dropped: "Between recruiting a 25-year-old homosexual girl and a 30-year-old married woman ... I caricature but unfortunately, that falls within our decision criteria . Asked whether he was comfortable with these questions, this Friday, he answered, "There is nothing new about motherhood in high performance sport." If you're not comfortable with that you have to run a boys' club. "
A few hours after this press conference, the AJPH provided some details as to its approach. The association does not wish to incriminate a particular club, but to carry the voice of players who wish to denounce certain practices. "For several weeks, accompanied by a lawyer, she collected testimonies and documents from the players concerned, writings that the AJPH keeps in its possession, always with the idea of not exposing the various parties to the media", writes -she.
The AJPH took note of the press releases and releases in the press of the various protagonists.
Some details ⤵️https: //t.co/wVEOcVvtf5 pic.twitter.com/cQ11EupC4l
The Federation and the Handball League have made it known via a joint press release that they "took note of the explanations provided by the president and the players of the Nantes club". No immediate action will be taken, therefore, except “a reminder of the procedures for the attention of all clubs, including the legal obligation to obtain express, formal and prior agreement from the athletes to prescribe a Beta HCG hormonal dosage ”. A reminder that should flow from source, but it gets better by (re) saying it.
Sport
Hand club tests players to find out if they are pregnant without their consent
- Nantes
- Sport
- Pregnant
- Maternity
- Handball