UNSS administrators demand the replacement of current leaders, accused of having caused a “financial crisis”

An administrative investigation has been launched into the National School Sports Union, according to the Ministry of National Education. The director of the federation says he has been heard.

Administrators of the National Union of School Sports (UNSS) demand that “the necessary decisions, by very quickly replacing the current management team which is endangering” their federation, they write in an open letter addressed to the Minister of National Education, the Minister of Sports and the Prime Minister. In this letter dated Wednesday November 6, they also ask “an in-depth investigation into politics and management methods”.

They refer to “revelations from the newspaper’s recent investigation The Team“which notably mentions “luxury spending” et “conflicts of interest” within the UNSS. The administrators thus believe that “since 2022, [l’UNSS] is going through a financial crisis that is only getting worse.”. “The operating costs of the structure have increased significantly with, for example, an increase in remuneration of 13.4% for the three highest executives”they explain in particular.

The Ministry of National Education declared to AFP that it had launched an administrative investigation into the UNSS. Contacted by AFP, the director of the UNSS, former handball champion Olivier Girault, said he had been questioned “for two hours” Thursday as part of this investigation. “I explained what I was trying to put in place for school sport (…) Some of my positions do not please. There are enmities in this environment. But I am straight in my boots”he added. “Rather than talking about the board of directors, we should look at all the licensees who have arrived since the Olympic Games”he preferred to emphasize.

Placed under the supervision of the Minister of National Education, the UNSS is the main school sports federation, which works in secondary education (middle and high schools). It brings together more than 9,000 sports associations created in each secondary school establishment, led by physical education and sports teachers. Some 1.2 million students are licensed there.