"When I was eight, I wanted to join the same football club as my brother, and I was told they didn't take women."

At 50, Brigitte Henriques became the first woman to become president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee.

At the microphone of Charles Villeneuve on Europe 1, she confides her determination and tells us about the origins of her commitment.

INTERVIEW

She is the new representative of Olympic sport in France, but also the new voice of French sport as a whole.

Since June 29, Brigitte Henriques has been at the head of the prestigious French National Olympic and Sports Committee, a first for a woman.

Invited Sunday of the

Great talks of Europe 1

, she confided in Charles Villeneuve.

"I want to dedicate this victory to all women"

"It's a very, very big challenge to take up. I'm ready," says Brigitte Henriques.

Health, financial and environmental crisis, fall in the number of licensees, defense of republican values… The clubs and federations in France are faced with problems which go far beyond the sporting framework.

But it is perhaps on the subject of the place of women in French sport that the election of Brigitte Henriques, former international of the French football team, arouses the most expectations.

"I want to dedicate this victory to all women. I want to tell them that we must dare to apply and reach positions of responsibility," she said after her appointment.

And this message will be at the heart of his mandate.

>> READ ALSO -

JO: swimming and athletics, two major projects for France before Paris 2024

According to 2016 figures from the National Institute of Youth and Popular Education, 38% of club members are now members, a figure that falls below 20% in several sports such as rugby, football. cycling or even table tennis.

Of the ten thousand French professional athletes, less than 10% are women.

And above all, only 14 of the 108 presidents of federations are presidents.

"We are moving forward a little, but not fast enough and not strong enough. To change stereotypes, to break down cultural barriers, there is a need to act. In any case, it is my commitment. ", insists Brigitte Henriques at the microphone of Europe 1.

"When I was eight, I wanted to join the same football club as my brother…"

The stake is all the more important for the former midfielder of FCF Juvisy, triple champion of France, that she herself suffered from the lack of places granted to women in the sport.

“When I was eight, I wanted to join the same football club as my brother, and I was told they didn't take women. I was very, very disappointed. Really, because I experienced football by proxy, every weekend, not only through my two-year-old brother, my older brother, but also the other four, since I have five brothers. And it is true that for me, at the time , it was banal. I said to myself here, it is like that. "

>> READ ALSO -

 Sports journalism "does not belong to men", plead women journalists

It took him until the age of 20 to realize that "no, this is not trivial".

"Finally, there were a lot of sportswomen who were in my case, I said to myself that it was not fair", remembers the former international, who turned 50 this year.

"Today, I see little girls playing with their daddy and they don't have the feeling I had at all, I was told at the time that we were tomboys. We were indeed on the margins. , but despite everything, my passion has always guided me and I have never stopped playing ", she continues. 

"I'm going to fight"

"All my commitment, it starts from there", continues Brigitte Henriques.

"And yes, there is still a lot to do and I really wanted to dedicate this victory to all women. We need to consider that we too are legitimate. It is up to us to dare, even if It's not easy. Me, in any case, for my part, it took me a long, long time to tell myself that I could be number 1 and not number 2. And I think I am not there. only in this case ", develops the former midfielder.

>> READ ALSO -

Health restrictions: the admirable adaptability of amateur sport

With her new status, Brigitte Henriques now intends to strengthen her capacities for action. After meeting the Minister in charge of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, and the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, she soon intends to meet with Emmanuel Macron, as well as with future presidential candidates. "I'm going to fight, to be proactive. We have to take our share of the responsibility." Objective: that her message circulate everywhere, in clubs, in schools, in universities, but also in the business world, where sport is still too little present according to her, for women as for men.