It was expected. It is now official. As we announced a few weeks ago, the France gymnastics center in Marseille, a structure faced with numerous scandals and one of whose managers was recently convicted of moral harassment, will definitively close its doors on June 30.
“Both financial problems, governance problems and ethical problems make the steering committee of the Federation come to this decision (to close), “said Kevinn Rabaud, national technical director of the FFGym, at the AFP.
The announcement is not a surprise since the France pole, which knew it was threatened for several weeks, had indicated in a press release posted on social networks on May 21, that “the French Gymnastics Federation [avait] summoned the president of the pole for a meeting this Saturday, May 20 in Miramas to announce to her the decision to close the Marseille pole on June 30, 2023 “…” The president is ordered to resign on Monday and all activities stopped on June 30 . Incumbent gymnasts, incoming gymnasts, and employees are fired.
Measures that follow several complaints of abuse. On May 31, Le Parisien published the moving testimony of a former resident of the Marseille gymnastics center, Amara, who years after the events still suffered from eating disorders and has the after-effects of a serious ankle injury.
Closing effective June 30
At the beginning of May, one of the managers of this centre, Vincent Pateau, had been given a six-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 10,000 euros for moral harassment of three young gymnasts.
Beyond this affair, the structure was also confronted with significant financial problems, the Federation bearing the expenses of the pole for several months. The hypothesis of the sustainability of the pole in another form was considered but “these projects did not seem tenable to us”, added Kevinn Rabaud.
The closure will be effective on June 30 and alternative solutions in other poles or in regional structures are being studied for gymnasts in training in this pole, assured the Federation.
