"I would like to explain to my 10 year old daughter why I do all this, I don't know how to do it. And yet it is for her that I do it… ”. On the verge of tears, the Minister of Sports speaks for the second time today, before an audience of sports leaders. Organized following the testimony of Sarah Abitbol, abused by her trainer, the national convention for the prevention of sexual violence in sport was full of emotion.
Skater Sarah Abitbol and athlete Catherine Moyon de Baecque, united in the intimate wound, took turns to conclude their story with applause. The words, unbearable, snap, when Roxana Marcineanu evokes some of the countless testimonies that have reached the listening cell in recent days. "He said he was in love with me, but how can you love a 13-year-old girl?" ". "I was available, at his mercy all the time, it was several times a week. It was 5 minutes behind a door, in a car, always with violence, without preparation, without any words. "
"Raw, violent words, which it is time to finally hear," insists the Minister of Sports, in a speech in which humans have replaced the traditional elements of language of the political class. “Our system has failed, regularly and for far too long, on all floors. For our children who love and practice sport on a daily basis, we are responsible. We are responsible for the parents who entrust them to us, ”insists Maracineanu.
And to continue by placing everyone face to face with their responsibilities. “Criminals and offenders must be punished by the law. Those who have hidden, even hidden, their actions too. Are those who waited for court decisions, without reacting and without giving more credit to the words of the alleged victims than to those of the alleged attackers, today sure that they have made the right choice? "
The leaders cash. The fear of damaging the image of sport, of losing licensees, put forward by certain leaders, is shattered. "It is not the sports movement but society that is affected, if the sports movement advances on this issue, it can advance society", argues Marie-George Buffet, the former sports minister, famous for having done move the lines on the issue of doping.
"There will be a before and after February 21"
“We are all touched by what is happening, admits Dominique Nato, who could run for president of the French Boxing Federation. These things that might seem harmless should alert us. We must also emphasize the educational aspect of sport. "
“For us, it is much more than an awareness, it is a catharsis, believes Bernard Giudicelli, president of the French Tennis Federation. Sport finally opens your eyes, there will be a before and after February 21. "We are campaigning for a happy practice of gymnastics," said Kevinn Rabaud, national technical director. This subject of violence, we took it in hand in September 2018, and there is no question of evading it. Reports have been made and will continue to be made. "
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All sports combined, a hundred administrative inquiries have already been launched by the Ministry of Sports, not to mention those concerning the skating clubs which will all be inspected. Numerous reports have also been made, in particular from certain federations directly to prosecutors.
Technical executives are the subject of investigations, sportsmen (all amateurs), club coaches and leaders could find themselves in turmoil. “Performing or having even more licensees can no longer be the only priority of the sports movement, insists Roxana Maracineanu. The first condition for welcoming a child into an association must be to ensure their safety and their physical and moral integrity. "
