“Why am I not treated the same as Teddy? “, was offended the judoka Clarisse Agbegnenou on Franceinfo. Because her return to individual competition, Friday at the Grand Slam in Tel Aviv, was disrupted by a conflict with the French Federation, due to the judoka’s choice to compete with a kimono from her personal sponsor. “Why am I being so wronged? Maybe we don’t want my success, ”she said. She also explained the reasons for her choice in a video posted as a story on Instagram.
The double Olympic champion, who was making her return to Grand Slam after her maternity leave, appeared on the tatami with a Mizuno brand kimono, while the French Judo Federation signed a partnership with Adidas. As a result, the Federation decided to deprive her of her referent coach in the France team, Ludovic Delacotte, for the competition. She was beaten in the quarter-finals by Australian Katharina Haecker, before losing in repechage to Kosovar Laura Fazliu. But ultimately, the important thing is not there.
Rules established by the International Federation
“Today (Friday), Clarisse fought with a kimono which was not the official kimono. She was not allowed to put on this kimono”, explained to AFP Stéphane Nomis, the president of the Federation. “We cannot go on a carpet with our coaches paid by the Federation with partners who are not ours, it is not understandable”, he added.
According to the rules of the International Federation, when the kimono of a judoka is not regulation, this one cannot have his trainer at his side during his fights. The French Federation has therefore decided to apply this rule for Clarisse Agbegnenou. “We made the same decision. She doesn’t wear our kimono, so she doesn’t have a coach,” said Stéphane Nomis. “The fact of not putting on the kimono calls into question the partnership with Adidas because if Clarisse puts on Mizuno, that means that each athlete can put on what they want and it’s the Wild West,” he said. he adds.
Clarisse Agbegnenou, who has counted Mizuno as a personal sponsor for several months, would like to wear the brand of her choice on the tatami, as Teddy Riner does with his personal brand Fight Art. “Adidas and Mizuno are real competitors, while Teddy Riner’s brand is a small start-up, it is not a competitor of Adidas”, explained Stéphane Nomis, who hopes that this conflict can be resolved “calmly and with intelligence, between lawyers”.