As is customary at the inauguration of each new Olympics, every four years, the sports federations will renew their governing bodies. Fencing opens the electoral dance on Wednesday, October 9, the result of which will be made official two days later. Judo and rugby will follow on October 19.
This will be the case until mid-December for the 35 Summer Olympic disciplines in question. With a new rule of the game established by the law of March 2, 2022 aimed at democratizing sport in France: the obligation to present strictly equal lists at the national federal level, its implementation is postponed until 2028 at the local federal level.
The challenge is important because the condition of the premises is not brilliant. Women still face a glass ceiling when it comes to accessing decision-making positions. According to the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), they only represent 38% of sports organizations.
This proportion has certainly increased since the establishment of quotas by the 2014 law on real equality between women and men. However, only two women hold the presidency of an Olympic summer sports federation, Brigitte Saint Bonnet (fencing) and Isabelle Jouin (field hockey); For twenty-five years, only seven have held the supreme office.
Really share the power
One of the explanations that managers use to justify this underrepresentation is to say that they lack candidates. When a sport only has 10% to 15% female participants, it is difficult to find the ideal female profile in a small group, they argue. “The opposite is not a problem”However, says Annabelle Caprais, a doctor in the sociology of sport and a professor at the University of Western Brittany.
“Gymnastics has a minority of practitioners and the federation has never been chaired by a woman. Not only is there no difficulty in finding men, but there is also no difficulty in finding them legitimacy to lead.”maintains the researcher, author in 2020 of a thesis on “the place and role of women in the governance of French sports federations.” The law of March 2, 2022 establishes, for its part, that the representation of women in the bodies cannot be linked to the proportion of licensees.
The truth is that beyond parity, what arises above all is the question of equal access to the different functions within the governing bodies. The point is not so much to see more women elected but to allow them to truly share power with men. “This is an issue that the 2022 law does not resolve”supports Annabelle Caprais.
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