French Ice Sports Federation (FFSG) president Didier Gailhaguet declined to resign amid rape and sexual assault claims of minors in figure skating.
However he admitted to having made “mistakes” but saying he was never “at fault.”
According to the reports, French prosecutors launched a preliminary investigation into former figure skating coach Gilles Beyer for the alleged rape of a minor and sexual aggression.
Former figure skater Sarah Abitbol, a bronze medalist with partner Stephane Bernadis at the 2000 world championships, recently published a book in which she said Beyer had raped her multiple times from 1990 to 1992.
Beyer last week said that he had had “intimate” and “inappropriate” relations with Abibtol, who is now 44, in comments to Agence France Presse. Beyer could not immediately reached for comment.
Three other skaters also claimed they raped by former coaches.
Gailhaguet president of the FFSG since 1998 with a hiatus between 2004-2007 after he suspended by the International Skating Union (ISU) for his role in a judging scandal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Beyer, however, was the team manager of a French juniors’ team at the 2011 world championships, despite a Sports ministry-led inquiry from 2000 showing that the former coach had inappropriate behavior with an underage skater.
Inquiry
The inquiry showed that in 1999, Beyer went to an underage skater’s bedroom during a training camp and “put his hand behind the young girl’s neck, pulled her toward him and asked ‘do you want me to kiss you or do you want me to go’.”
“He asked her how old she, adding, after she had told him she was 17, ’17 or 18, it doesn’t change anything’,” stated the report.
“Everybody makes mistakes. I made mistakes but I was never at fault,” Gailhaguet, who claimed he initiated the 2000 inquiry, told a news conference.
“Yes, the executive committee named him team manager of the juniors’ team in 2011. It’s easy to judge now that we know the facts.
“Ninety percent of all the facts, I’ve just learned them,” said Gailhaguet, who admitted he had “not fully read Abitbol’s book.”
French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu asked Gailhaguet to resign, saying he could not “absolve himself of his moral and personal responsibility.”
The sports ministry is launching an investigation into 200 figure skating clubs in France.
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