Will the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) emerge from the crisis in which it has been plunged for more than a month? On Wednesday, October 12, the 45 members of the CNOSF board of directors (CA) have, “on the proposal of Brigitte Henriques, president of the CNOSF”according to a press release, appointed by 73% of the votes Astrid Guyart as secretary general of the apex institution of the sports movement.
The former fencer, silver medalist in team foil at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, replaces Didier Séminet, who left his post on September 12, due to “deep disagreements” with Brigitte Henriques. The former vice-president of the French Football Federation (FFF) had also, a few days later, filed a complaint against her ex-right arm for “psychological violence”. Present on Wednesday at the board of directors, the patron of the Olympic Committee notably mentioned to the press “a very threatening episode”.
Very affected according to relatives, Brigitte Henriques, time to rest, passed the reins of the presidency, at the end of last week, to four members of the body: Jean-Pierre Siutat, president of the French Basketball Federation, Michel Callot (cycling), Sébastien Poirier (motorcycling) and Astrid Guyart, also a member of the High Level Athletes Commission.
Wednesday, M.me Henriques did not indicate how long she was in the background, saying only that she came out “exhausted by the fifteen months that she [venait] to live”, “fifteen months of relentlessness and unprecedented violence”and that she would only come back by being “100% of [ses] physical, psychological and intellectual capacities.
The quartet installed at the head of the CNOSF, an unprecedented procedure in the history of the institution, did not calm the anger of the opponents of Brigitte Henriques. “It’s a masquerade of democracy! How did this group of four decide? How can we have fun like that with the statutes? »was indignant before the CA on Wednesday, with Agence France-Presse, Didier Séminet, who remains, moreover, a member of the Board of Directors of the CNOSF.
“A disastrous picture”
The dismissal of Didier Séminet, ex-president of the French Baseball Federation, has caused deep fractures within the French sports movement and has been dismissed “a disastrous picture” less than two years from the Paris 2024 Games, have deplored throughout recent weeks many players in French sport.
The choice of Astrid Guyart (39 years old), until then Deputy Secretary General of the CNOSF – she will not be replaced in her post – is not a surprise as her name came back with insistence to occupy the position of right arm of the president. The former foil fencer will, however, continue to work four days a week as an engineer at Ariane Group. Not incompatible with the general secretariat of the CNOSF, according to Brigitte Henriques. « Didier [Séminet] told me that Astrid did in a day what he did in a month”slashed the patron of the Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
Astrid Guyart, who wants “breaking the deadlock” for “meeting the challenges of Paris 2024”, will be primarily responsible for bringing some serenity back to the Maison du sport français, which has been going through an unprecedented crisis in more than fifty years of existence. The Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, had, on the sidelines of Paralympic Day, Saturday in Paris, called on each of the camps to“appeasement”.
Not sure she is heard. Thursday, October 13, the camp of the slingers – “a movement of putschists”, according to Brigitte Henriques – must meet at the house of judo, to, officially, discuss the future of the sports movement. The former boss of the CNOSF Denis Masseglia, who had nevertheless worked for the election of Henriques in June 2021, has shown himself to be very critical since the start of the school year towards his successor. Today he refuses to blow on the embers, but promises to make a statement soon.
As for Brigitte Henriques, whom her opponents accuse of having imported the authoritarian methods of the FFF, she refuses to let go of the helm of the flagship of French sport. “In February-March, I almost broke down. I held on, and I won’t crack. I will remain president until the end of my mandate. »