Nellu Pop, one of the three coaches of the French women’s team, suspended – Libération

The coach of the French women’s gymnastics team was suspended on Wednesday March 6, as a precautionary measure as part of an administrative investigation launched in May 2023. The Ministry of Sports did not specify the facts with which he is accused .

New bomb in the world of women’s artistic gymnastics. Four months before the Paris Olympic Games, Nellu Pop, one of the three coaches of the French team, was suspended as a precautionary measure by the Ministry of Sports which made a report to the “public prosecutor”, revealed France Info this Wednesday March 6. Information confirmed by AFP.

Neither the French Gymnastics Federation (FFG) nor the ministry specified what was accused of the coach of Romanian origin, who has been working at Insep since 2013, where a psychological unit was opened. “The Federation will cooperate with the ministry and the authorities to guarantee both transparency and the transmission of all information that will shed light on the facts. The Federation will also take the necessary measures, in parallel with the ministry,” reacted the FFG on France Info.

The alleged facts were brought to the attention of the ministry during an administrative investigation into the FFG, launched in May 2023 after a report by France 2 where six former gymnasts of the French team denounced physical or psychological violence from coaches. In May, the technical director of the French gymnastics center in Marseille, Vincent Pateau, sentenced to six months in prison for moral harassment, decided that he could no longer exercise any management function.

For several years, gymnastics has been shaken by cases of sexual violence, such as in the United States where doctor Larry Nassar claimed hundreds of victims, including Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time. Some gymnasts, mostly young women, have also reported mistreatment during training as well as food deprivation.