The now ex-president of the FFSG held this position since 2020. She only collected 47.7 % of the votes during the election organized on Saturday.
per (with AFP)
It’s a real blow for Nathalie Péchalat. President of the French Ice Sports Federation since 2020, the ex-European Ice Dance Champion has cheated on being re-elected. She was beaten on Saturday 25 June by a novice, Gwenaëlle Noury, who won the election with 52.3 % of the votes.
Nathalie Péchalat collected 47.7 % of the vote while 136 out of 161 clubs voted (including 70 by proxy). The General Assembly, which was held at the headquarters of the French National Sports Olympic Committee (CNOSF) ended in a certain hubbub and confusion. It was also closed to the media.
The shadow of Didier Gailhaguet
Nathalie Péchalat had assured in recent days that her only competitor, Gwenaëlle Noury, was remote -controlled by former president of the FFSG Didier Gailhaguet to whom she had succeeded. The latter had resigned in the spring of 2020, accused of having covered a coach called into question for rape and sexual assault. Didier Gailhaguet reigned over the federation without discontinuing for more than two decades.
Despite the requests of several media, Gwenaelle Noury had not expressed himself anywhere in the press. For his part, Gailhaguet defended himself from wanting to weigh on the election. “I have nothing to say, I got out of federal life (…) I am not a candidate for anything,” he said in the Sunday Journal.
Barely elected, the new federal team led by Nathalie Péchalat had voted for new statutes limiting the number of mandates and making it ineligible as president. The future will say what influence will have the election of Gwenaëlle Noury on the future of the FFSG.