Former French skating chief demands 300,000-euro compensation from sports ministry

The former head of French ice skating Didier Gailhaguet has demanded 300,000 euros in compensation from the country's sports ministry for being forced to resign because of a sexual assault scandal, according to documents seen by AFP. In the document Gailhaguet, 66, says he wants the 152,550 euros ($167,277) he says he would have received as salary had he remained until the end of his mandate, and 150,000 euros in damages. He denounced pressure from sports minister Roxana Maracineanu, who insisted he resign from his position as head of the French Ice Sports Federation (FFSG), until he bowed to it in February and stepped down.

Former French skating chief demands 300,000-euro compensation

Gailhaguet left the federation, which he had led almost uninterrupted since 1998, after a series of former skaters, most notably Sarah Abitol in her book "Un si long silence", accused former skating coaches including Gilles Beyer of rape and sexual assault. Beyer, the manager of the French national figure skating team, was removed following an investigation by the sports ministry in 2000 but under Gailhaguet, was allowed to continue coaching at club level. Gailhaguet says he asked the sports ministry to launch a probe into Beyer's conduct in 1999 following allegations from a skater of "ambiguous behaviour", and says the ministry approved the courses Beyer organised with minors between 2000-2019.

Earlier this month Gailhaguet said he would not leave his position at the French Olympic Committee, saying he refused to be "the fall guy for the administration's obvious malfunctions".

He also said in the message that he was forced to resign to save French skating by the threat of withdrawal of recognition brandished by Maracineanu, which he described as "an atomic weapon". 

Image credits: AP