Sexual violence in French sports: 180 people under suspicion

Some 180 people have to respond to alleged cases of sexual violence in French sports, the country’s sports minister, Roxana Maracineanu, detailed this Wednesday, several months after a wave of revelations of sexual assaults.

Forty federations are affected by these cases that essentially concern (98%) minor victims at the time of the events, 78% of them being women, the minister said, in a meeting with the press.

Some 90 judicial processes are ongoing in reference to these cases, and 16 people are currently incarcerated, said Roxana Maracineanu, announcing a first assessment four months after launching a national convention for the prevention of sexual violence in sport last February. At that time, the minister had acknowledged that the breadth, severity and number of cases were unknown.

In December 2019, an investigation by the Disclose information website, along with other media, had uncovered “major malfunctions” in treating suspected cases of pedophilia in sport.

A few weeks later, the release of the book by expatinadora Sarah Abitbol (‘A so long silence’) accusing her former coach Gilles Beyer of having raped her had marked the beginning of a wave of revelations of sexual assaults in French sport.

These revelations had also pointed out many dysfunctions within the clubs, federations, justice and state services.

These scandals led to the resignations of the President of the French Ice Sports Federation (FFSG), Didier Gailhaguet, and the President of the French Roller and Skateboard Federation (FFRS), Nicolas Belloir, both questioned for their handling of sexual violence in his sport.