Violence in sport: on average 6 reports per day, according to the Minister of Sports

Published on November 13, 2024 at 11:40 a.m.

Reports of violence in sport continue to pour in: there are “five to six reports per day” on average. These figures, which come from the Signal-Sports platform, created in 2019 to collect and process testimonies of violence, have just been revealed, Tuesday, November 12, by the Minister of Sports and Youth Gil Avérous.

Victims who speak out

“There are rather six reports per day at the moment,” the minister assured the press, on the sidelines of the national convention for the prevention of violence in sport, which was held in the Maison du sport français in Paris. During his speech, he underlined “a value of example for the first who spoke and those who were victims[…]who did not dare to say because they were made to believe that it was unspeakable.” “Now they are taking the plunge,” added the minister.

1,500 administrative investigations, 400 people implicated

Since the creation of the platform, nearly 1,500 administrative investigations have been launched, with 392 cases in 2024 and nearly 400 people implicated. Nearly two out of three reports concern acts of sexual violence, according to figures communicated by the Ministry of Sports.

In total, more than 70% of victims are female, and almost as many were minors at the time of the incident. For Gil Avérous, “the best way to put an end to it is to identify those who individually are at the origin”.

Since 2021, volunteer sports educators have been subject to checks, which make it possible to check their criminal records, a system which has been extended to judges, referees, swimming supervisors and other workers working with minors. It is estimated that there are 2.8 million integrity checks each year.