92 hearings under oath, 133 hours of hearings. This is the colossal work carried out by the commission of inquiry “relating to the identification of operational deficiencies within the French sports federations, the sports movement and the governing bodies of the sports world”.
For six months the commission, born on the initiative of the Ecologist-NUPES group in the wake of the “numerous public revelations by athletes and various high-profile cases relating to the management of various federations”, collected the testimonies of 193 actors in the sports movement, including victims of sexist and sexual violence, racial and homophobic discrimination, journalists, associations and even federation leaders.
The interviews produced a report of over 400 pages, to which to miss was accessed in its entirety, presented on Tuesday 23 January to the National Assembly. It must serve as a working basis for “to make sport a more democratic, more transparent, more respectful, more ethical and safer environment” and lift the silence that afflicts the sporting environment in terms of sexist and sexual violence. What to take from the report? Let’s take stock.
VSS, discrimination and financial abuse
The commission’s work focused on three areas of study. On the one hand, sexist, sexual, psychological and physical violence. Then, the discrimination and hatred that they don’t have “It’s not their place here, in the streets or in the stadiums”, argued environmentalist rapporteur Sabrina Sebaihi during the presentation of the report to the press on Tuesday 23 January. And finally the financial excesses of the associations.
Indeed, if the sports movement today functions largely thanks to the work of volunteers, in recent months some federal leaders have been singled out for their remuneration. abnormal » (including the 400,000 euros gross per year and the target bonus of 100,000 euros received by the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, when she was head of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) between 2021 and 2022).
62 cross-party recommendations
The commission’s work resulted in 62 recommendations. Faced with the reservations expressed, in particular, by the Minister of Sport who denounced a report “activist” and it works “exploited for political purposes”the president of the commission and the rapporteur insisted on the trans-party nature of these proposals.
One of the main recommendations is the need to create “an independent administrative authority, external to the sporting movement, responsible for the ethics and integrity of sport”. This would be “equipped with the ability to impose financial sanctions” and would ensure that the culture of transparency that must prevail prevails “in the execution of a public service mission, in the protection of the physical and moral integrity of millions of people who practice sport every day, huge budget flows and sometimes broken destinies”.
Among the recommendations formulated we also find the inclusion in the law of an obligation of effective equality in all governing bodies of the sports movement, the imprescriptibility of sexual violence against minors, the strengthening of the means intended to fight sexist and sexual violence, the carrying out of an in-depth investigation across all federations or the development of good repute checks…
Remove silence
During the presentation of the report to the press, the rapporteur Sabrina Sebaihi (at the origin of the Balance ton Sport platform with Béatrice Bellamy, president of the commission) indicated that this is the word “omertà” which was more pronounced during the various hearings.
Dedicating this work to sportswomen who have had the courage to speak out, like Sarah Abitbol, the speaker criticized the disconcerting levity shown by some federal leaders when speaking about sexist and sexual violence cases brought to their attention. You also reported Sabrina Sebaihi “approximations, even lies” of some leaders interviewed, whose testimonies were denied by the press. The rapporteur highlights this fact “A lot of people knew about it, but nothing happened.”
When asked about the rapidly approaching Olympic Games and the risk that the games pose “ethical and democratic shock” that the commission wishes to provoke, Sabrina Sebaihi recalled the urgency of acting in the face of this “ inertia that must be addressed ».
“Total cancellation of the State”
The committee was also concerned “the total cancellation of the State”which however has the task of verifying compliance with the laws by sports federations and ensuring the processing of reports addressed to the dedicated ministerial unit, Signal-Sport.
The investigation report denounces this issue in the introduction “the difficulties encountered in accessing a certain number of documents requested from the Ministry of Sport “. Elements “which were essential to carry out its control mission”.
This is the case of the monitoring table of violence reports received by Signal-sports, “which was not communicated to you at the time you completed the drafting of this investigation report”. Sabrina Sebaihi reportedly went to the ministry the day before the report was examined by members of the inquiry commission, to “attempt to obtain clarification”in vain.
Echoing the words of the former Minister delegate for Sport, Roxana Maracineanu, the committee deplores the systemic failures: “Our system has failed, regularly and for too long, at every level.”
As regards the Signal-Sport ministerial unit, the commission highlights the lack of visibility it benefits from, its existence being largely ignored within the sports movement.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
