Several French sports leaders targeted by investigations for false testimony before the National Assembly

The Paris prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday January 16 that it had opened several investigations on January 10, following reports targeting leaders of sports federations, accused of false testimony to the National Assembly. These alerts come from deputies who sat on the commission of inquiry which has conducted, in recent months, a series of hearings on the failures of sports federations in terms of sexist and sexual violence, racism or financial management.

At the beginning of the month, the courts reported reports targeting six officials suspected of making false sworn statements. Among them are the president of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, suspected of perjury concerning financial elements.

The five other leaders implicated did not demonstrate honesty in the Assembly regarding acts of sexual and gender-based violence of which they may have become aware. These are the president of the French Equestrian Federation, Serge Lecomte, the president of the French Ice Sports Federation, Gwenaëlle Noury, the former boss of the French Federation of Judo and associated disciplines, Jean- Luc Rougé, the legal director of the French Football Federation, Jean Lapeyre, and the general director of the National Institute of Sport, Fabien Canu.