A new episode in the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) soap opera. Le Parisien and L’Equipe report that the former secretary general of the body, Didier Seminet, who was pushed out on 12 September after a vote by the board of directors, has in turn filed a complaint with the courts. The complaint is aimed at the president of the CNOSF, Brigitte Henriques, whom he accuses of “slanderous denunciation” and “breach of trust“. Didier Seminet’s complaint follows a similar action taken against him at the beginning of October by Brigitte Henriques for “psychological violence“. In a letter sent to the members of the board of directors, Didier Seminet wrote: “I am stunned! What is the point of such slander? Here I am, labelled as a stalker in the media with more than 420,000 hits on Google associating my name with violence! The first thought that comes to mind is: why didn’t she do it before if it was so unbearable? Who among you would put up with such an ignominy: being publicly denigrated, defamed and moreover without having the slightest explanation? With regard to my family, my professional activity and my environment, I have to prove that I had nothing to do with what Brigitte Henriques accused me of, and I therefore inform you that I have filed a complaint today, in my turn, to obtain compensation. You should know that I would obviously have preferred not to come to what I consider to be an extreme situation, but neither President Brigitte Henriques nor those who support her have left me any other choice.” Didier Seminet also explained that he had still not been heard by the police or the courts in connection with the complaint lodged by Brigitte Henriques. As a reminder, the president of the CNOSF decided last month to take a rest and to withdraw from the body for an undetermined period. She delegated “the operational part of her missions” to a quartet composed of Jean-Pierre Siutat, the president of the French basketball federation and vice-president of the CNOSF, Michel Callot, his counterpart from cycling (treasurer), Sébastien Poirier, the president of the French motorbike federation (vice-president), and the former fencer Astrid Guyart, appointed secretary general after Didier Seminet’s exclusion.
