the resignation of its president Brigitte Henriques is “a decision of reason”, comments David Lappartient

This is “a decision of reason that we have accepted in the hope that it will restore serenity”David Lappartient, a French member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), president of the International Cycling Union, reacted on Thursday May 25 on franceinfo, following the resignation of Brigitte Henriques from the French National Olympic and Sports Committee 14 months before the Paris 2024 Olympics. At the end of last week, on May 21, around 40 French sportsmen and elected officials called, in a column published in the JDD, for an end to “to quarrels” within the French Olympic body to better prepare for the Paris Games.

>> 2024 Olympics: six dates to understand the crisis that is shaking the French Olympic Committee and which has led to the resignation of Brigitte Henriques

franceinfo: What do these resignations represent?

David Label belongs to: We are one year away from the Olympic Games, our country has the great honor of hosting the Olympic Games and the tensions, to say the least, that existed within the Olympic Committee have been really damaging. We had to get out of the crisis. Brigitte Henriques has decided to resign. It’s a way out. It was undoubtedly necessary, so close to the Olympic Games, for serenity to return, for the unity of the French Olympic movement to return and for us to be able to prepare with joy and happiness for these Olympic Games.

Should that be the only resignation?

We have the resignation of the president, but we have not had a dismissal from the board of directors. Relaunching in a revocation, with a complete election of the board of directors and restarting an electoral campaign so close to the Olympics, which does not seem appropriate to me. Therefore, the president’s decision seems to me a decision of reason that we have accepted in the hope that this will restore serenity.

Is the International Olympic Committee (IOC) moved by the situation in French sport and its authorities?

Absolutely. There was serious concern from the International Olympic Committee, it did not hide it. He could not afford for the host country of the Olympics to be in such a divisive state one year before the Olympics. We spoke on the phone without interfering in the governance of French sport.

Are you a candidate to succeed Brigitte Henriques?

I’m not a candidate for anything, I already have a busy schedule, so I didn’t leave to run for the head of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee. In any case, like other colleagues, I remain available because the Board of Directors will have to elect among its members, as envisaged by the statute, a president who cannot come from outside, he must be a director in office.