“Be among yourself” and “omerta on all levels”. The parliamentary commission of inquiry into sports federations criticizes in a report the “systemic failures” of French sport in terms of ethics, governance and the fight against sexual violence, calling for the creation of an independent control authority.
Six months before the Paris Olympic Games, this report written by environmentalist MP Sabrina Sebaihi paints a vitriolic portrait of the functioning of the federations, in line with heated hearings in the Assembly. The Paris prosecutor’s office had already opened several investigations following reports from the commission on possible “false testimony” from sports leaders before parliamentarians.
Consulted by AFP before its publication on Tuesday, the 250-page report considers the remuneration of some of them “very high or even abnormal”. It targets in particular the 400,000 euros gross annual and 100,000 euros target bonus for the former general director of the French Tennis Federation Amélie Oudéa-Castéra from 2021 to 2022, now Minister of National Education and Sports.
“State failures”
Sabrina Sebaihi judges the sporting environment corrupted by the “culture of secrecy, lies and false testimony” and “not sufficiently accustomed to accountability”. The parliamentarian calls for a “shock of control, transparency and democratic culture”, thanks to the establishment of an “independent administrative authority responsible for protecting the ethics of sport”.
She also points out the “failures of the State” in its control missions, criticizing the new delegation contracts put in place with the federations, which are “incomplete” and “accompanied by insufficiently precise commitments”. Sabrina Sebaihi also insists on “serious accusations” targeting the French Kickboxing Federation and its Aulnay-sous-Bois club by demanding an “inventory”.
Following the hearing of journalist Romain Molina before the commission, the Ministry of Sports took legal action after becoming aware of facts likely to reveal a system of blackmail of a sexual nature, in a kickboxing club. The Federation completely contests these accusations, and assures that it will file a complaint for defamation against Romain Molina.
A “long inertia” in the fight against sexual violence
In terms of sexual violence, which has shaken the world of sport since the revelations in 2020 of skater Sarah Abitbol, Sabrina Sebaihi denounces a “long silence”, a “long denial” and a “long inertia” of French sport. She considers in particular that the Signal-Sports platform launched by the ministry in 2020 is “invisibilized”, “undersized” and “very largely unknown”.
In December, former Sports Minister Marie-George Buffet had already called in a report for an “independent authority” to prevent and deal with sexist and sexual violence in sport. A proposal with which Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said she disagreed, favoring the current cell.