The Paris prosecutor’s office announced to Agence France-Presse on Tuesday 16 January that it had opened several investigations against sports federation presidents suspected of having given false testimony before a parliamentary commission of inquiry on 10 January. world The Paris prosecutor’s office revealed that seven reports of perjury were taken into account.
The reports came from elected officials who sat on the National Assembly’s Commission of Inquiry, which held a series of hearings on the failure of sports federations to combat racism or manage their finances and their responses to racist and sexual violence.
Gilles Moreton, president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), has been particularly targeted for some of his statements regarding financial matters. He is alleged inter alia to have asserted that “Subject” Suspicions of corruption and misappropriation of public funds weighed on him and were in relation to the ticketing of Roland-Garros. “closed”While the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) opened a preliminary investigation into the matter in July 2023.
An offense punishable with imprisonment for five years
Five other leaders are suspected by the deputies of “Not condemning acts of sexual and gender-based violence which (they) May be aware. They are Serge Lecomte, French Equestrian Federation (FFE); Gwenaëlle Noury, French Ice Sports Federation (FFSG); Jean-Luc Rouget, former boss of the French Federation of Judo and Associated Disciplines (FFJDA) and current Secretary General of the International Judo Federation; Jean Lepeyre, Legal Director of the French Football Federation (FFF); and Fabian Canu, Director General of the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP).
The Parliamentary Committee on the Environment, Sabrina Sebaihi, also announced the issuance of a seventh report targeting Nadir Alouche, president of the French Federation of Kickboxing, Muay Thai and Allied Disciplines (FFKMDA).
According to Article 434-13 of the Penal Code, the crime of perjury is punishable by five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros. Under this article, the author of perjury is exempted from punishment. “If he has voluntarily withdrawn his testimony before the decision terminating the proceedings passed by the court of inquiry or by the trial court”.
