The French Handball Federation (FFHB) announced on Monday that it was initiating disciplinary proceedings against Benoît Kounkoud. Initially accused of attempted rape by a woman during a Parisian evening after the European champion title at the end of January, the player of the French handball team will finally appear for sexual exhibition during a guilty plea hearing in June at the Paris court.
“From this moment, we trigger the procedures which are those of the FFHB, whether it is snowing, whether it is windy, whether it is Mr. Dupont or Mr. Durand. We have a lot of respect for all that,” reacted this Tuesday the president of the French federation Philippe Bana, questioned on the sidelines of the announcement of the attribution of the 2029 World Cup to France and Germany.
The FFHB thus referred the matter to the disciplinary commission and the ethics commission against Benoît Kounkoud. “We wanted to do it quickly so that things would be as quick as possible. Afterwards, as the disciplinary commission is independent and the ethics commission too, they will make their own decision. The sentence will probably be completely different than what was initially imagined, but we have this duty to do it. But we are not judges and it is not me who will tell them what to do,” continues Philippe Bana.
Benoît Kounkoud, former PSG player, was suspended for some time by his current club, Kielce in Poland. Returning to the field at the end of February, he was called up with the Blues by Guillaume Gille for the “Trophée des continents” in March.
On the road to the Olympics, the French handball team is due to meet in Corsica at the beginning of May for an internship before a match against the United States on May 11 in Lyon. The Blues will then undergo three weeks of preparation in Tignes before a final preparation course from July 8 to 17.
