Already at the heart of a controversy for her statements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which cost her her position on the CNOSF athletes’ committee and led her to resign from her role as ambassador for the Paris 2024 Olympics at the start of year, former basketball international Émilie Gomis has not decided to keep a low profile. On Sunday, it was with a simple message on the sportswoman, triggering a new debate and attracting the wrath of many elected officials.
In Rouen (Seine-Maritime), it is the 3 x 3 basketball court that bears his name, inaugurated in the Grammont district in his presence in November 2021, which is at the heart of the tensions. Leader of the opposition in the Rouen municipal council, Marine Caron has no doubt: it must be renamed. “I already asked myself the question last October. But she apologized and was in a certain way sanctioned for her comments,” recalls the centrist elected official, who has been with Horizons since 2021.
“But there, she persists and signs. We must draw conclusions and act to show that the city of Rouen does not support these positions which go against the values of fraternity that it should defend, particularly among the youngest. We must ask ourselves the question: is this the example we want to show to our youth? “. And if on social networks the silver medalist at the London Olympics to her defenders, on the side of the City of Rouen, it is for the moment more vague.
The socialist mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, who during the inauguration of the land “was looking forward to making great projects” with Émilie Gomis, has not officially taken a position on his statements. When questioned, he refers to the comments of his sports assistant, Sarah Vauzelle, in the columns of the daily Paris-Normandie: “The town hall has no comment to make on the exit of Émilie Gomis. As for the decision to give his name to a City sports facility in 2021, it was only based on his sporting record.”
However, the elected official does not close any doors: “We are studying the situation to find out whether it falls under freedom of expression or not. At this stage we are not ruling anything out.” The only certainty, even the one whose name was chosen following a citizen consultation to defend a State, Iran, which violently represses any movement for the emancipation of women, should not delight Nicolas Mayer Rossignol. A fervent defender of the cause of women, he has made the feminization of public space one of his main interests. With the first example, the sports field… Émilie Gomis. “Political courage also means recognizing when you are wrong,” assures Marine Caron, hoping to be heard as soon as possible.
