Long blind to the dysfunctions of the French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG), the sports ministry did not shirk, Monday, February 3, before the excitement aroused by the accusations of sexual assault in figure skating. Minister Roxana Maracineanu called for the resignation of President Didier Gailhaguet, who has been in office since 1998 – with an interruption between 2004 and 2007, following financial problems -, and began the process which she herself described as “The atomic weapon” : withdrawal of the delegation to the FFSG.
The Federation is in particular accused of having continued to employ, until 2018, Gilles Beyer, a trainer suspended by the ministry in 2001 after a report on alleged sexual assaults. Testimonies last week in the press of four former skaters referring to three different attackers, all high-level coaches from the 1970s to the 1990s, painted a grim picture of the customs of French figure skating and the omerta that reigned there.
In an address to the sports ministry, Roxana Maracineanu blamed “Quasi-institutionalized shortcomings within this federation. Silence seems to be the rule for many actors, elected officials or technicians. “
Everything contributes to the FFSG losing its delegation
The FFSG has fifteen days to respond to the ministry, whose decision should not be long afterwards – the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) will be consulted for an opinion. Everything contributes to the FFSG losing its delegation, that is to say the competence to organize the high level on all of its disciplines in France. A substitution mechanism would then be put in place, probably a commission ad hoc CNOSF whose first mission will be to register French skaters for the world championships, from March 18 to 21 in Montreal.
The minister also announced a new administrative investigation – the eleventh, which makes it the federation by far the most controlled in France – and her intention to seize the public prosecutor to obtain a criminal investigation “On the facts which justify it”. She also promised to help create a “Victims association”.
Saluting the courage of the four skaters whose testimonies in The Team and The Obs have had the effect of a blast in French sport, Roxana Maracineanu estimated that “Didier Gailhaguet does [[could] release themselves from their moral and personal responsibility “.
Didier Gailhaguet does not blink
True to his image, that of a man of power experienced in confrontation with the ministries, Didier Gailhaguet did not blink. A few minutes after the hour of interview with Mme Maracineanu, he rejected his responsibility in the management of the consequences of these sexual assaults, which allegedly took place from the 1970s to the 1990s. He did not rule out resigning, saying he wanted to consult his federal council beforehand – which is entirely his acquired – and act “With lucidity and responsibility”.
Didier Gailhaguet is for the first time publicly challenged by the Ministry of Sports. There were plenty of opportunities, however: the 2002 Winter Olympics scandal – when it had been suspended by the international federation for having manipulated judges -, the Gilles Beyer case, poor sports results, terrible relations with certain large skating clubs and exodus of some of the best French skaters and coaches. Despite this, Didier Gailhaguet held the post of federation president and technical and sports adviser until his retirement, therefore paid by the ministry.
“Ministers who wanted to bring it down, there have been many in twenty yearsreacts Gwendal Peizerat, an Olympic dance medalist in Salt Lake City and defeated in the federal election in 2014. But we can salute the strong action of Roxana Maracineanu. What would make me happy is not that he resigns, because he already did (in 2004). You can be sure that he will never come back. It is checked but it is not checkmate. I think he can suffer, suffer, suffer and come back for the 2022 elections. “
Press conference Wednesday afternoon
In this crisis, Didier Gailhaguet will try to regain control during a press conference Wednesday afternoon at the federation. He intends to reveal there information on the treatment, favorable according to him, which would have benefited from the coaches accused of rapes on behalf of the ministry.
Marie-George Buffet, Minister of Sports in the Jospin government between 1997 and 2002, he said “Cowardice and incompetence”. However, it was she who, alerted to the actions of Gilles Beyer, had reported her case to justice, launched an investigation by the General Inspectorate of Youth and Sports and withdrawn her approval as a technical adviser. The investigation of the Créteil parquet floor having been dismissed, Gilles Beyer had returned to the FFSG and had, alongside his friend Didier Gailhaguet, participated in major strategic decisions such as the choice of the national technical director.
By Wednesday and the revelations promised by Didier Gailhaguet, perhaps French sport will have news from the CNOSF, of which Mr. Gailhaguet is one of the 48 administrators. Since last week, its president Denis Masseglia has not spoken. No more on Monday evening, when The world asked him.
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