Highlights: The president of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) Brigitte Henriques, elected in June 2021, resigned Thursday, May 25 from her post, a coup de théâtre in full general assembly fourteen months before the Paris Olympics. The conflicts and internal rivalries got the better of the former vice-president, in open war for months with her predecessor Denis Masseglia. The secretary general of the body Astrid Guyart will ensure the interim until the election of a new president in the next three months.

The president of the French Olympic Committee resigns 14 months before the Paris Olympics

The president of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) Brigitte Henriques, elected in June 2021, resigned Thursday, May 25 from her post, a coup de théâtre in full general assembly fourteen months before the 2024 Paris Olympics, in order to put an end to an internal crisis that has lasted for more than a year and a half, announced the CNOSF.

Brigitte Henriques. AFP - ALAIN JOCARD

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The conflicts and internal rivalries got the better of the former vice-president of the French Football Federation (FFF), in open war for months with her predecessor Denis Masseglia. "The secretary general of the body Astrid Guyart will ensure the interim until the election of a new president in the next three months," said the statement of the CNOSF.

The situation was no longer tenable, she made the right choice, "responded a federation president present at the time of the announcement of this resignation at a highly anticipated general assembly.

For more than a year and a half, the CNOSF has been going through an unprecedented crisis, between threats of complaints, low blows and revelations of email exchanges in the press...

A climate that has become very heavy

This climate has become even heavier in recent days with the announcement by Denis Masseglia of an upcoming filing of a complaint to the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) for breach of trust against the mandate of Brigitte Henriques. The former president, before the members of the body, had read a letter detailing his grievances against the president, referring to financial irregularities and undue expenses according to him. And he had then drawn the ultimate weapon, evoking a complaint against X for breach of trust with the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) which was to be filed "in the coming days".

An intervention that had triggered the ire of Brigitte Henriques, denouncing a "cabal", and a form of "harassment". Masseglia had explained to AFP that he had not supported that on April 4, during a press conference at the CNOSF, Brigitte Henriques' lawyer, Arash Derambarsh, threatened to file a complaint against him.

Concern of many players in French sport

Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, told Inter France that "the sports movement" could "in no way afford such divisions (...) before the whole world", asking that "this house return in order".

I do not imagine that these problems, which shock the sports world, extend beyond the month of May, I am sure that we will find a solution, "she had pleaded on the channel L'Équipe

The ouster in September 2022 of Brigitte Henriques' former right-hand man, Didier Seminet, triggered a deep crisis from which the institution has never recovered.

The proximity to the Olympic Games in Paris, in fourteen months, and this crisis that did not end, worried many players in French sport. "This resignation is a way to settle the crisis, and it's quite noble," said another federation president.

The president of the French Olympic Committee resigns 14 months before the Paris Olympics

The president of the French Olympic Committee resigns 14 months before the Paris Olympics

A climate that has become very heavy

Concern of many players in French sport

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