Handball: 6 questions about illegal pregnancy tests at the Nantes club

This is a dark and sad story whose French sport would have gone well: the women's handball club of Nantes would have carried out pregnancy tests with its professional players at the start of the season without their consent.

Who denounced the facts?

It was the Association of Professional Handball Players (AJPH) - the Union of Professional Handballers and Handballers - who brought the matter to light. She denounced, in a press release, pregnancy tests carried out "without the consent of the players", during biological assessments at the start of the season in a club of the Women's League (1st division). In its communication, the association does not cite the club concerned.

😡 AJPH recently learned of unacceptable practices that would have taken place in a @LBE_Officiel club

❌ Prescribing a blood pregnancy test without the agreement or consent of the players is ILLEGAL ⛔

Press release ➡️ https://t.co/ZLZqBACYvS pic.twitter.com/oVXUCW9PoI

What is criticized by the players' union?

In this press release, the AJPH said: "As part of the biological assessments at the start of the season, the analysis of the level of the hormone Beta HCG, aimed at detecting a state of pregnancy, would have been prescribed by the doctor of the club without the consent of the players. This hormone also called "Gonadotropic chorionic hormone" is produced at the very beginning of pregnancy as soon as the egg is implanted in the uterine lining. It therefore indicates whether a woman is pregnant.

Are these tests legal?

Still according to the association, it is completely illegal! These tests are obviously private and intimate and must not concern an employer, even less a club: "This type of control is completely illegal and not only violates the privacy of the players but also seriously compromises their privacy," recalls l 'AJPH who "reserves the right to follow up" on this matter

Who is the club concerned?

The “Nantes Atlantique Handball” not to be confused with the “HBC Nantes” of the boys who plays in Starligue, is a new heavyweight of the French female handball. The championship is dominated by two mastodons, Metz and Brest and Nantes arrives just behind. The club has in its ranks three internationals competing to compete in the next Olympic Games in Tokyo (Japan) with the French team, world champion in 2017: the back Camille Ayglon-Saurina, the goalkeeper Catherine Gabriel and the wingwoman Blandine Dancette.

Were the players aware of these tests?

This is the whole issue of the case: AJPH says no, the club says the opposite. The only certainties: the alleged examinations were part of the classic medical tests at the start of the season in July 2019 to find out if a player (or a player) is able to (re) sign a professional contract. These tests are used to find recurrent, sometimes hidden, injuries. It is obviously not a question of whether a player is expecting a child or not.

How does the club defend itself?

Nantes leaders are to hold a press conference in the afternoon this Friday. President Arnaud Ponroy, however, has already reacted on the "Team" site: "It is completely stupid and dishonest on the part of the players' union, a trial of intent completely stupid. These tests were of course done with the approval of the players. "