For the past week, the Sarah Abitbol affair has served as an earthquake in French sport. Everyone hopes that the poignant tale of the former skater in her book "Un si long silence" will untie languages and change mentalities. The revelation of the ex-champion's ordeal is not a first, however.
Fifteen years ago, tennis player Isabelle Demongeot highlighted the repeated rapes which had subjected her coach Régis De Camaret. Once the dread and excitement had passed, the life of most federations resumed its course.
"When a case comes out, we tend to do things and then we abandon them," breathes Pierre Cherret, national technical director (DTN) of the French Tennis Federation (FFT). I do not think that all sports were mobilized at the time of the Camaret affair. Our dynamic is precisely not to react but to be in prevention and monitoring. "
Most of the measures taken at the FFT date from 2007. “We thus do a psychological follow-up of the athletes, training vis-à-vis young people, coaches, regional technical advisers, etc. We make sure that everyone, at all levels, is up to date with their professional card and that it is displayed in clubs, details DTN. The abuse component is also part of obtaining various degrees. We have many publications on the theme and a dedicated section on the FFT website. All the players of the different teams of France receive from their captain their tracksuit and a guide which tackles various subjects including that of abuse of authority. "
A sports integrity delegate position created in September
From the aspiring pro to the young club lover, everyone must be made aware of the problem. The sordid affair Andrew Geddes, former coach of Sarcelles and Levallois recently sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment, shows that it is not only the very high level that is affected.
"Next week, we have our annual CTR meeting (Editor's note: regional technical advisers) in Nice," continues Pierre Cherret. With three major subjects: abuse of authority, betting and doping. We will obviously use the example of Abitbol in our presentation. "
The FFT, whose charter for the protection of minors will be distinguished in a few days from the Gold label of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), created last September a post of sports integrity delegate, occupied by a lawyer who has become the referent for problems of betting and abuse of authority.
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"We are also studying the implementation of a tool for reporting drifts directly via our website to be more reactive," explains DTN, which became aware of two or three cases reported to the authorities in 2019. We are also in the process of to see how to be able to access the birthplace of our licensees in our database. This is very important for justice and it would save time for research. "