#MeToo in sailing: the Federation is challenging the sanction against Kevin Escoffier, deemed too light

New twist in the case of skipper Kevin Escoffier, who has been under investigation for sexual assault since July. Barely a week has passed since the sailor was provisionally suspended by the disciplinary commission of the French Sailing Federation, following an internal procedure that began in August 2023. But, according to information from Le Canard Enchaîné, confirmed by FranceInfothe French Sailing Federation believes that its commission’s decision is not firm enough and has therefore decided to appeal.

The federation does not consider the sanction severe enough

Suspended for 18 months, the sailor was also sanctioned with the provisional withdrawal of his license for five years, suspended, and the impossibility, for 10 years, of being elected to the governing bodies of the French Sailing Federation. The skipper and the Federation had seven days to appeal the disciplinary commission’s decision, which they both did.

At the beginning of June, the French Sailing Federation (FFVoile) contacted the Prosecutor’s Office regarding the skipper and filed an initial complaint with the Ministry of Sport. These were acts that could be characterized as sexual assault and involved a young member of his team, during an Ocean Race stopover in Newport.

After, The chained duck published in mid-June the testimonies of four women describing the “repeated slips” of the Breton navigator towards women. One of them, for example, confided the recommendations made to her: “I was told not to be alone with him because of his sometimes inappropriate behavior towards women. »

The federation had initiated disciplinary proceedings for “ inappropriate behavior » in August, a few weeks after the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation in early July.

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