From tennis courts to the court of justice… According to information from the newspaper L'Équipe, Jean Gachassin, the former president of the French Tennis Federation between 2009 and 2017, is under investigation for acts of "aggression sexual” opened by the prosecution of Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées).
Gachassin, who was also a rugby international (32 caps in the blue jersey), celebrated his 80th birthday last December.
The former rugby player (between 1960 and 1978), who was nicknamed "Peter Pan" on the oval lawns because of his vivacity and his small size (1.62 m), would, according to L'Équipe, "attempted to forcibly kiss a young woman as part of the general assembly of the Occitanie Rugby League which took place last weekend in Bagnères-de-Bigorre".
Still according to the sports media, the latter, also a technical executive, would have quickly filed a complaint.
The newspaper even joined the public prosecutor of Tarbes who confirms the facts.
"An investigation has been opened in this regard, on the grounds of sexual assault, against Mr. Jean Gachassin, confirmed to L'Équipe Pierre Aurignac.
The investigations are managed by the research brigade (BR) of the Bagnères-de-Bigorre gendarmerie.
Mr. Gachassin has not yet been officially questioned by the investigators.
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It would not be the first time that Jean Gachassin would have to deal with justice.
In 2016, then president of the French Tennis Federation, he was accused of having set up "privileged ticket trafficking" by profiting from the illegal resale of tickets for the Roland-Garros tournament.
His lifestyle at the time had also been pointed out.
In addition to his monthly salary of 7,000 euros, he would have benefited from "particularly high expense reports", two company cars, one in Paris with a driver, the other at his home in the Hautes-Pyrénées.
