11:30 p.m.
, May 30, 2020
At the Ministry of Sports, this is the subject that annoys. The entourage of Roxana Maracineanu said “really do not understand” why the former swimming champion entered the government in September 2018 is regularly taken to task over the case of the Clamart swimming pool (Hauts-de-Seine). One hundred and fifty-one cases of violence or sexual abuse are being processed throughout France by inspections, it is said, and it does not face a different fate, even if the minister has been linked for more ten years at the club whose daughter is still dismissed today.
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An administrative investigation opened in 2018
The scandal broke out in 2017 when a coach was the subject of a complaint for sexual abuse of minors. The investigations are quickly concluded and the man is placed under investigation, his employment contract is the subject of a simple contractual breach. In 2018, the Ministry of Sports opened an administrative investigation. On this date, Roxana Maracineanu has not yet joined the team of Edouard Philippe. The former world champion in the 200 meter backstroke gives Clamart swimming lessons to very young children as part of an association independent of the club.
A few days after her appointment, she received a letter from a lawyer. In this letter, Me Abraham Johnson denounces on behalf of a complainant “the lack of current reaction from the public authorities”. No answer is given. For the parents of the victims, the exclusion of the suspected lifeguard is however not sufficient. They are also calling for sanctions against club leaders who they say closed their eyes when they were alerted. Is the proximity of the minister and the club the cause of this indulgence? On January 11, Roxana Maracineanu presents awards to the Clamart swimming pool; on February 1, she attends a competition. However, an administrative investigation into the functioning of the club was opened by the ministry in 2018, before his arrival.
“Where is the consistency?”
A new case with similar contours stirs the anger of the complainants. On February 8, 2020, Didier Gailhaguet, president of the skating federation, resigned after being summoned by the minister. The book of a former champion revealing the sexual abuse of which she was the victim on the part of a trainer caused this forced departure. Why was this severity not applied to Clamart, say the parents of the victims? “On the one hand, we punish without waiting, on the other, we let it drag; where is the consistency? Wonders Mr. Johnson. The same rule must apply everywhere.”
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For the entourage of the Minister, the two files are quite separate. The smooth running of the skating federation necessitated a rapid response. For the swimming club, the results of the administrative inquiry can be expected. The coach was suspended in April for six months from all activity. Roxana Maracineanu’s links with Clamart will not hinder anything, we promise. And if necessary, another investigation will be relaunched.
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