Photo: VCG

 

The under-fire president of France's ice skating federation Didier Gailhaguet resigned on Saturday over his handling of accusations that a former national coach raped a top skater when she was in her teens.

Gailhaguet finally bowed to pressure from France's sports minister to step down after former world championship medallist Sarah Abitbol accused coach Gilles Beyer of sexually assaulting her.

"In the spirit of conciliation, I took the sensible decision to resign with philosophy, dignity but no bitterness," Gailhaguet, 66, announced after a meeting of the federation's federal council in Paris.

In an autobiography published last month, Abitbol alleged Beyer raped her several times from 1990 to 1992 when she was between the ages of 15 and 17.

That claim led to accusations from other skaters.

Helene Godard accused Beyer and another coach Jean-Roland Racle of ­sexual abuse when she was a minor.

Sports daily L'Equipe reported that the mother of another young skater claimed that Beyer sexually harassed and blackmailed her in 2017 and 2018 in return for coaching her daughter.

Gailhaguet had initially refused calls from Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu to move aside, saying on Wednesday that he had "absolutely not protected Gilles Beyer" and protesting that he had found out about "90 percent of these incidents in the press and in a book... 10 days ago."

In announcing his resignation, Gailhaguet hit out at "the ministerial dictatorship and in particular the shameful threat of withdrawing support" from the federation made by Maracineanu.

The minister herself hailed Gailhaguet's departure as "a first step."

"There is no other solution than to knock things down to rebuild again," she said, adding, "We owe it to the victims." 

Abitbol was unimpressed at Gailhaguet's resignation, telling French news magazine L'Obs that "the entire federation where he had friends still has to be cleaned out."

"Those who remained quiet and supported his system are still there," she added.