Paris -
The president of the French figure skating federation will be interrogated today by the country's sports minister following a series of accusations of sexual abuse and rape committed by a coach against underage skaters.
Didier Gailhaguet is not the direct target of the accusations but will have to respond about the case of coach Gilles Beyer, who has been accused of rape and continues to work with the federation despite an investigation that raised suspicions of the crimes in the early 2000s.
Gailhaguet was summoned after the publication of a book last week in which Sarah Abitbol, 10-time French champion and bronze medalist in pairs at the 2000 world championship, accused Beyer of raping her between 1990 and 1992 when she was a teenager.
"I hope he offers me an explanation of how and why these cases happened," said French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu.
Beyer, 62, and former director of the French figure skating teams, admitted last week to having "intimate" and "inappropriate" relationships with Abitbol. On Friday, he was fired by the French club Les Francais Volants, where he held a position as general delegate.
According to the newspaper L'Equipe, the French Ministry of Sports canceled Beyer's contract as a technical advisor in 2001 after a report highlighted repeated "serious acts" confirmed against young skaters. Despite his dismissal, Beyer continued to work with Les Francais Volants and collaborated with various French federation teams until 2018.
Abitbol's book release coincided with the publication by L'Equipe of a series of articles exploring sexual abuse in figure skating, swimming, and tennis in France. In the newspaper's reports, Beyer and two other coaches are accused of sexual abuse towards former skaters.
"We never suspected that what we heard or read in the last few days would be something so big," Maracineanu said. "We are all shocked. Me more than anyone else." (D)