Launched three months ago, a parliamentary commission of inquiry into dysfunctions in sports federations seems to irritate certain French sports executives, including the new president of the Olympic committee (CNOSF) David Lappartient, who denounced in a letter ” outrageous accusations “.
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Is French sport prone to crises? After football, rugby, gym, and even the CNOSF, a new front has opened 10 months before the Olympics, on a more political level this time. Barely elected as president of the CNOSF (June 29), David Lappartient decided to cross swords with this commission of inquiry, initiated by the environmentalist deputy Sabrina Sebaihi (Hauts-de-Seine), rapporteur.
In a letter dated July 19 revealed Thursday September 21 by The worldand addressed to Sabrina Sebaihi, the Breton elected official, also a member of the IOC, said to himself “ surprised » of the description of the sporting world as “ a terribly opaque environment » by the said commission.
“ This is a new blow that you are dealing to the French sports model »
Evoking during the various hearings of “ caricature representations », David Lappartient denounces “ outrageous accusations “, and wonders about ” goals “, ” on the exact purposes » of the commission launched at “ 400 days from the opening of the Paris Olympic Games “. “ This is a new blow that you are dealing to the French sports model “, he asserts.
A frontal attack which made the environmentalist MP react. “ It is very problematic that David Lappartient calls into question the work of parliamentarians. It’s as if the image of the Olympics was more important “, she protests to AFP. “ This is the first time that the very principle of a commission of inquiry has been contested, it is more than lobbies that are being set in motion, I find it totally undemocratic “. “ Perhaps it is disturbing that we are tampering with a system that has been in place for years. If the only answer “all is well in the best of all possible worlds” Or “we have already put things in place”, it does not go well “, she says.
Testimonies help to depict a sporting world “ living in isolation »
Since the launch of the work of this commission, numerous testimonies on cases of sexual violence in sport, but also on serious problems of governance have been heard. According to Sabrina Sebaihi, all these testimonies help to depict a sporting world “ living in isolation “.
With the president of the commission Béatrice Bellamy (Horizons, Vendée), she launched on September 13 a platform for reporting violence in sport called “ Balance your sport “.
An initiative immediately criticized by the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who reacted on France Culture radio three days later by emphasizing “ only one platform » existed for “ collect reports of violence, and in particular violence of a sexist nature, it is called Signal-Sports “.
Set up by the Ministry of Sports in 2020, this unit received more than 1,000 reports according to sports director Fabienne Bourdais, figures given during her hearing by the commission of inquiry.
A ” hundred testimonials »
Sabrina Sebaihi claims to have already received a “ hundred testimonials » on the new platform, « some that the federations do not want to hear “. “ The Signal-Sports cell exists, but athletes are not aware of it », she snaps.
The world also reports this Thursday a letter sent by the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Philippe Diallo to the president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet (Renaissance), to complain about the hearing of the influencer journalist Romain Molina. The president of the 3F is offended by “ hearing content (…) seriously jeopardizing [ses] employees, managers and volunteers “, denouncing remarks “lying and insulting “.
“ There is an increase in pressure from an environment which is tense and fears a bad image. This will not prevent us from carrying out our parliamentary work independently and transparently. », assures MP Béatrice Bellamy, member of the presidential majority. The commission must complete its work at the end of the year.
With AFP