Six leading French sports leaders targeted by reports for perjury

At the end of six months of investigations, the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the failures (sexist and sexual violence, embezzlement and governance problems) of the French sports federations will present, on January 16, its summary report, voted on behind closed doors at the National Assembly on December 19, 2023.

After having conducted ninety hearings of players in the sports movement (federation leaders and executives, elected officials, associations) under oath, this commission noted many approximations, deliberate omissions, lies, versions with variable geometry. To date, she has issued, December 26, six reports to the courts for perjury, under article 40 of the code of criminal procedure, learned The world.

According to our information, confirmed by the Paris prosecutor’s office, The president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), Gilles Moretton, is targeted by this wave of reports to the courts, for alleged perjury concerning financial matters.

Failure to report sexual and gender-based violence

Also targeted are his counterparts in horse riding (FFE), Serge Lecomte, and ice sports (FFSG), Gwenaëlle Noury, as well as the former boss of the French Federation of Judo and associated disciplines (FFJDA) and current secretary general of the International Judo Federation, Jean-Luc Rougé, the legal director of the French Football Federation (FFF), Jean Lapeyre, and the general director of the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance ( Insep), Fabien Canu. These five people are suspected by parliamentarians of not having reported acts of sexual and gender-based violence of which they may have been aware.

It is up to the Paris prosecutor to decide whether or not to take criminal action on these reports. “ These reports are currently awaiting attribution to the competent sections”specifies the prosecution.

For several weeks, the commission carried out verification work on the basis of the hearing minutes; it has not yet completed its cross-checking and should send other reports to the courts in January. The president of the French Federation of kickboxing, muay thai and associated disciplines (FFKMDA), Nadir Allouache, could be among the next leaders to be implicated.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Paris 2024: “The big unpacking in sports federations eight months before the Olympic Games”

The mea culpa of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra

The offense of perjury is punishable by five years of imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros, according to article 434-13 of the penal code. Under this article, the author of false testimony is exempt from punishment. “if he spontaneously retracted his testimony before the decision putting an end to the procedure rendered by the investigating court or by the trial court”.

You have 65% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.

source site-20