At the beginning of this year, the past of the French skating industry of "coaches sexually assaulting underage athletes" was exposed, which aroused strong concern and public outrage from many parties, and finally led to the resignation of the last president of the French ice sports federation, Gelagheit. After five weeks of vacancies in the top leadership position, the French Ice Federation has finally welcomed a new owner , former ice dancer Nathalie Pechalat, who was elected as the agency's new president on Saturday.
Pekkarat became the first female president of the French Skating Federation. She is only 36 years old, but has achieved great results in international competitions – back-to-back European ice dance in 2011 and 2012, paired with Fabian Bourzat in 2012 and 2014, and won bronze medals at the World Championships twice.
The moments of Pekkalate's past matches
However, for Pekkalate, the task of taking over the French Ice Federation under the current circumstances and rectifying the negative image of the industry is quite arduous.
In January 2020, figure skating star Sarah Abitbol, who has won several domestic, European and world championships in France, launched her new book, Silence for a Long Time, revealing the nightmare of being sexually assaulted by coach Beyer between 1990 and 1992 when she was not yet an adult. On Jan. 31, Beye, 62, pleaded guilty to Abibo's allegations.
Subsequently, two more former skaters reported Baye's misdeeds and publicly accused the French Skating Federation, the subjective body of the industry, of not providing support and assistance to the victim side. It is also reported that as early as 20 years ago, that is, in 2000, there were parents of athletes who accused Baye, who was investigated by the Judiciary and the Office of the Minister of Sports, and finally left the French national team in March 2001. Curiously, the sanctions didn't really end Beyer's career prospects in the industry, not only as technical director of a French club, but later even in the office of the French Skating Federation from 2014 to 2018!
Former president of the French Skating Federation, Gei Agate
In the face of the outbreak of sexual assault scandals in the industry, the criticism of public opinion and the continuous fermentation of a series of related situations, the former chairman of the French Ice Federation, Gaiaget, finally had to resign and leave. However, as the head of the French Ice Federation from 1998 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2020, Gai agate stressed when he left his post that Baye was elected normally in the agency and had nothing to do with it; and that he resigned to calm things down. He also accused the French sports minister, who ordered him to resign, of being "morally upright." In response, Abibo gave a tit-for-tat response, she said: Geragate must resign, but this is only the first step, the entire agency needs to be reorganized and rebuilt.
Now, led by the young former elite female athlete Pekkalate, the French Skating Federation, which is in turmoil, may be able to salvage the reputation of the institution to some extent. However, according to Agence France-Presse, In fact, Pekkalate also took office amid the controversy.
Originally, three more candidates were running with Pekkart for the presidency of the French Ice Federation, with two of them (skating club official Damien Boyer-Gibaud and former bobsleigh athlete Michelangelo Marie-Calixte) announcing their withdrawal before Saturday's vote. Another, former speed skater Gilles Jouanny, remained on the ballot, though he told AFP he had called campaign organizers to remove his name because he was unable to travel because someone infected with the coronavirus had been found in the building where he lived. According to the official FFSG vote count, Pekkalt won directly in the first round of voting; The only opponent on the list, Joani, received zero votes.
Reuters reported that the three contenders issued a joint statement saying 160 club presidents were asked to attend a rally before the vote, while French officials had banned rallies of more than 100 people.
Agence France-Presse also referred to the statement, with three of Pekkalt's opponents saying: "We refuse to associate ourselves and our supporters with new scandals such as cracking down on our federation's manipulation of elections and the insertion of previously designated candidates." ”
It seems that Pekkalt has a long way to go to really accelerate the handling of past scandals and bring the entire industry together to reshape the image and atmosphere.