Players and players accuse their coaches of "torture and harassment" ... and the Greek president is interfering
Twenty-two former Greek athletes and gymnasts claimed in a letter to the country's president, Caterina Sakilaropoulou, that for decades they had been subjected to "torture" at the hands of their coaches, the daily Evsin revealed on Wednesday.
The letter, which was also sent to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the sporting authorities, revealed "cruel and abusive" practices dating back to 1985, including forced fasting, psychological and physical punishment and sexual harassment.
"For the first time, a large number of gymnasts are making a cry of protest about collectively psychological and physical abuse," lawyer Alexandros Adamides told the newspaper.
This shocking news prompted the new president of the Greek Gymnastics Federation, Thanasis Statopoulos, who came to office last March, to invite the board of directors to an emergency meeting to discuss the issue.
"We stand with the players. We will act in complete secrecy and assess the seriousness of each allegation," he told the daily Kathimerini.
His predecessor Thanasis Vasiliades, who presided over the federation for 14 years, said Wednesday that the players "should name the perpetrators ... so that they can deprive them of the sport."
The message stated that the coaches were slapping players, kicking them, and throwing goods at them during training. They even dragged some girls by their hair and held them from the top of the thigh between the legs.
She added that at times, coaches removed the protective mats, causing injury to players who were forced to train even when injured.
In the message, the athletes indicated that disciplinary measures included forcing them to train in extreme temperatures and denying them a toilet break.
Due to strict weight requirements, some athletes deprived themselves of food to the point of fainting, and secretly resorted to consuming toothpaste and leftovers collected from hotels, according to the letter.
The newspaper withheld the names of the signatories to the letter.
Prominent Greek gymnasts have previously accused the federation of failing to secure adequate training facilities and facilities.
In Greece, a wave of allegations of sexual assault have surfaced in recent months in the fields of arts, sports and education.
More than three years after the emergence of the "Me To" ("Me Too") movement against sexual harassment in the United States, Sofia Picatoro, who won two Olympic medals in sailboat, has broken the silence in Greece.
Picatoro said that, when she was 21, she was "molested and sexually assaulted" by an important union member in his hotel room, shortly after the 2000 Sydney Olympics trials.
The accused, who was asked to resign from his position in the Greek sailboat federation, denied committing anything Infraction.
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