Newsletter

British coach suspended for life over alleged sexual assault

Toni Minichiello, one of Britain’s leading athletics coaches, has been banned for life by the British Federation (UKA) after an internal investigation concluded he had long-standing “inappropriate sexual behaviortowards several athletes, the federation announced on Tuesday. Minichiello, who was notably the coach of Jessica Ennis-Hill during her heptathlon title at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, also had gestures and behaviors “sometimes aggressive» under the «moral harassmenttowards athletes, according to the conclusions of this investigation.

«I strongly deny all charges against me” reacted Tuesday at the end of the afternoon in a press release the 56-year-old coach. The identity of the athletes who were victims of Minichiello was not revealed by the report of the federation. According to Guardian and the Daily Telegraph, Ennis-Hill would not be among them. She has not yet reacted publicly after the sanction of her former coach.

Minichiello had been suspended a year ago pending the results of the federation’s investigation. She concluded that he hadrepeatedly violated the terms of its license, over a period exceeding 15 years“, evoking a”serious breach of trust». «I have been a coach for over 30 years and although I have been tough and demanding, I have never behaved inappropriately towards any of my athletes“, insisted the coach.

“Major repercussions on the health and mental well-being of athletes”

While his license expired during his suspension, the UKA is “convinced“that there will be”Never again» the possibility of granting another to Toni Minichiello. Also any new request will be rejected.for life“. The British Federationconsiders the subject and the results of the investigation to be of the utmost seriousness“, with “major impact on the health and mental well-being of the athletes under his care», is it still written. For his part, Minichiello asserted that justice “failed to prosecutewith the evidence available against him.

«One of the most serious accusations occurred while I was in a different country from the person accusing mehe assured. “It is very important that the federation reacts quickly to allegations of misconduct, especially when they are made by young athletes. However, these investigations must be carried out carefully in accordance with due process. I don’t believe I was treated fairly in this matter.“, he concluded.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending