The French Boxing Federation is at the heart of the controversy. Last Monday, Sarah Ourahmoune announced on Instagram that she was withdrawing her candidacy for co-president of the body due to the numerous insults to which she was subjected on social networks and within the FFB itself: “I knew that electoral periods within federations were sometimes marked by friction and low blows. But this time it was more than I could have imagined. I was the target of racist and sexist attacks: words like “the Arab on duty”, “housekeeper of the federation”, or even “the female dog of…”, not to mention anonymous messages from a unprecedented and deeply shocking violence. I never thought I would be attacked like this for my origins or for the simple fact of being a woman. (…) I am scandalized, and deeply saddened. I discover with sincere pain that my sport, the one I loved so much, is going through a period of suffering that goes beyond simple rivalries. Our society is suffering, and I am worried for all of us. Who would agree to fully commit, being treated this way? (…) My decision to withdraw costs me enormously, because it seems to contradict everything I defend on a daily basis: courage, resilience, the ability to fight in hostile environments, to push the limits of what is possible. , and to defend equality, diversity, and mixing.“
Present on the set of The shock team this Tuesday, November 12 to react to the controversy Brahim Asloum did not hide his strong anger: “I’m a little ashamed, I’m hurt, frankly I’m suffering, I put myself in Sarah’s place.“The former Olympic champion denounced the racist insults suffered by Sarah Ourahmoune:”These are people with origins, people like us, who allow themselves to insult him. What are we talking about?“
The cry from the heart of Brahim Asloum
The ex-boxer was outraged to see such behavior within his own federation: “But who do you think you are? This group of coaches, three quarters of them have not done a tenth of what this champion has done. They allow themselves to put their title on the line, to talk about her origins, to disrespect her. She is much more cultured than three quarters of the coaches in this collective. But who do you think you are, basically, are sports educators who allow themselves to talk like that? of those around them, but what an example of shit!“
“We are just young people from immigrant backgrounds who are already in difficulty. These comments should not exist here, I am not saying that they should exist elsewhere, but even less here!“, continued Brahim Asloum, who praised the work of Sarah Ourahmoune as a leader. “Sarah, in all instances, is a respected person. We rarely have someone, in our discipline, I’m talking about boxing, who reaches this intellectual level and there, we disrespect him like that, as if he were a rotten board… Everything we say to the daily it is useless, because it is those who are on the ground supposedly who must advocate good words, good deeds, help our children grow, give them hope of flourishing, and well behind their backs, that’s it what they say about our champions.“
