Wilfried Happio accused of domestic violence by a former partner, the Federation takes legal action

The FFA announced that it was taking legal action, the day after accusations of violence by a young woman in “Le Monde”. The French hurdler, who qualified for the Olympic Games, disputes the facts through his lawyer.

“He punched me in the head like a giant punch.” In a newspaper investigation The world Published Wednesday July 17, a former girlfriend of Wilfried Happio, French 400m hurdles specialist entered in Paris 2024, accuses him of domestic violence. She plans to file a complaint “shortly” for repeated acts of violence between 2018 and 2019, while they had already been in a relationship for a year. Anonymous, this former regional athlete tells the daily “traumas” that she experienced during this period. The day after this interview, the French Athletics Federation announced that it was taking legal action, in a press release sent to AFP.

“He ended up hitting me in the thigh with his bike,” continues the hurdler’s accuser, before recalling other moments: “He slapped me with his signet rings because he couldn’t stand me smoking.” One evening in the summer of 2018, things got out of hand, according to him, while the couple were in Spain on vacation. “He literally cracked”explains the young woman, who no longer remembers all the blows. Only the blood flowing from her nose and having feigned discomfort “because the situation was beyond her control”.

As many facts as Wilfried Happio “firmly contests on the merits” through his lawyer, Anthony Mottais, contacted by franceinfo: sport, Thursday. In the article in Le Monde, his ex-partner explains that at the time she did not want to report them to the French Athletics Federation (FFA) “for protection”to avoid breaking the career of the 2022 European vice-champion.

In the meantime, the latter has been targeted by complaints from two other women. The first in October 2020 from triple jumper Janet Scott, with whom he had a brief relationship. She then reported being beaten in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in August of the same year. He was quickly acquitted by the FFA disciplinary committee, while the complaint was dismissed a year later, for “insufficiently characterized offense”.

In the context of this case, the young woman who speaks in The world had drawn up a witness statement to certify that Wilfried Happio had never been violent with her. An action carried out under the“grip” of her ex-partner according to her.Obviously, the words of this young woman are very contradictory today,” Anthony Mottais emphasizes, judging that she had established this document “freely to send him support.”

In June 2022, Wilfried Happio was then accused of sexual assault by another athlete from the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep) for facts dating back to September 2021. The complaint was once again dismissed for “insufficiently characterized offense” in February 2023.The complainant’s brother was convicted of punching the hurdler in the face during the French championships in June 2022.

The entourage of the 25-year-old Frenchman “regret” the publication of this article a few days before the start of the Paris 2024 events. According to his lawyer, “Wilfried Happio only wants to concentrate on the Olympic Games. He tries to stay focused and in his bubble.” For the time being, no defamation complaint is on the agenda and the athlete is not expected to make a statement.

For its part, the FFA has launched an internal disciplinary procedure targeting him for “to shed light on this matter”. “Pending the court’s decision, the FFA reminds that Wilfried Happio is presumed innocent and that, consequently, his status as selected for the Paris Olympic Games is not called into question.”she specifies. The 400m hurdles heats at the Olympics are scheduled for August 5.