In a corner, this Saturday, a TV broadcasts the announcement of the resignation of Didier Gailhaguet. In Courchevel, the skating club has met and looks at the screen with a discreet eye. "We must continue the big cleaning and move on," slips the president of the association Isabelle Mugnier. At this moment, the event is elsewhere: the pancake day passes over the Parisian adventures of a Federation in turmoil. Life goes on.
The shock wave of sexual violence is however in all conversations, here and elsewhere: “Gilles Beyer ( Editor's note: the author of the alleged rapes on Sarah Abitbol ), we have often come across it. We didn't suspect what a monster it was. Now we're all dirty, ”says Mouna Abdelmoula, president of the Limoges club.
Worried leaders ...
There are 160 clubs affiliated to the FFSG. In many of them, the embarrassment is palpable: “No comment!, With us everything is fine! "Say many of the leaders contacted. "However, the consequences are going to be terrible," replies one of them. Parents who know us know that they have nothing to fear. Others will hesitate to entrust their children to us. We are going to live in complicated times to convince them that we are not a landmark of predators… ”
… And the first steps
To promise them the best care, some have taken directives for a long time. “To avoid any ambiguity, answers Mouna Abdelmoula, an adult never stays alone with a student. There are always at least two: the coach and a member of the steering committee or a parent. Most clubs do this. In this other club, the measure was taken after an accompanying father had too explicit looks.
The parents' contrasting attitude
By passion, some accompany their child everywhere. Others leave them at the entrance to the ice without more supervision: where is the right method? : "Let's face it, many parents consider the club to be a daycare center, which does not make our task any easier," confides a leader in the Paris region. While remaining in their place, they must play a closer role so that doubt does not arise ”. In the Alps, Isabelle Mugnier takes over. “Here, parents attend toddler training. After, we put a downside because many give their opinion on education and it is not good for anyone. "
Coaches on the front line
Coaches, whose job it is, are on the front line through the fault of colleagues guilty of violence and rape. "Skating has always been tactile to show how to position yourself," said one. All this is over. What did not shock before can cause scandal! So we don't touch the students anymore. "Awareness of the dangers is not new:" This is part of our training: we never go into the students' locker room, says a trainer near Paris. Despite this, male colleagues are worried. They are afraid that their behavior will be misinterpreted. To reassure and rule out potential rapists, the Department of Sports will soon inspect each club, requiring the criminal records of all coaches.
Sponsors in waiting position
The FFSG is a small Federation, its budget is small: barely 4.5 million euros, of which 480,000 euros come from sponsorship. Incidentally, the subsidy from the Ministry of Sports (1.6 million euros) represents 40% of revenue, which would have a considerable impact in the event of withdrawal of the delegation and / or the approval of the State. For the moment, none have planned to withdraw their logs even if the FFSG site is misleading: it still displays the logo of companies that have had no connection with it for years. Some may, they say, reconsider their position if other cases come out.
Galas not yet impacted
With Philippe Candeloro in the limelight, "Holiday on Ice" is going on tour throughout France from February 27. A few days after the scandal, the public could mix everything up. This is not the case: the success of the “biggest ice show in the world” cannot be denied. “We have seen no impact on the pace of sales following the scandals in French figure skating. We express our support to Sarah Abitbol who was several times one of the stars of our show and to all the other French skaters who have experienced the same dramatic situations ", affirms Olivier Genest, the executive producer of the show.
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Other ice sports want independence
"We are not a Federation but a confederation," said Didier Gailhaguet before leaving. In the FFSG, disciplines as diverse as figure skating, speed skating, ice ballet, synchronized skating, ice dance, curling, bobsleigh, luge and skeleton coexist.
"The only thing in common is ice and that's it," says former bobsleigh international Michelangelo Marie-Calixte. We must take advantage of this unfortunate opportunity to blow everything up. In this federation, there is only one for skating which decides everything and alone. Like ice hockey (which started in 2006), sports want to leave the FFSG.
“We will certainly be small ( note: 7000 licensees in all except skating ) but we want to be independent, resumes the former bobsledder. It works like that at the international level with Federations specific to each sport: why not in France? In my opinion, this is the guarantee of better results. "