Administrators of the National Union of School Sports (UNSS) demand “to make 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 policy and management methods” Who “tarnishes the image of school sport”. They refer to revelations from the recent investigation by the newspaper L’Équipe, which notably reports “luxury spending” et “conflicts of interest” within the UNSS.
“The UNSS is going through a financial crisis which is only getting worse”
The administrators thus believe that “since 2022, (the UNSS) has been going through a financial crisis which 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 told AFP that it had launched an administrative investigation into the UNSS. According to a source close to the matter, this investigation was launched in October.
“I’m straight in my boots”
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’m 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 the more than 9,000 sports associations created in each secondary school establishment, led by physical and sports education (PE) teachers. Some 1.2 million students are licensed there.
The UNSS, whose position of national director is usually devolved to national education executives, is currently headed by Olivier Girault, former president of the National Handball League from 2018 to 2020. He was appointed in December 2021 by Jean-Michel Blanquer, then Minister of National Education.
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He succeeded Nathalie Costantini, head of the UNSS from 2018 to 2021, who herself took over from Laurent Petrynka, director general of the UNSS from 2010 to 2018 (and in 2020 became sports advisor to the cabinet by Jean-Michel Blanquer).
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