“Your club will not resume its activity at the start of the school year.» The words of the very recent president Romain Chuatare strong. 137 years old, the gymnastics club Defense from Amblainville is now threatened. Its activities could be stopped if relations with the town hall do not improve. Attempts at talks took place this Friday, January 10, during the club’s general meeting.
In the brand new room The Versatilemany parents came to support the members of the office. “When there is no one at a general meeting, everything is fine. When there are people, it’s not okay», soberly summed up Mickaël Deroubaix, president of the Hauts-de-France regional committee and vice-president of the French Gymnastics Federation.
€32,000 diverted from civic services
To understand the disputes between town hall and club, we have to go back a few months. Throughout 2024, a case of fraud rocked the gymnastics club, via management of civic services. To summarize, agents engaged in civic service had to work twenty-four hours a week. But between 2016 and 2024, the club’s management committee asked these young people to work fewer hours. In return, the latter paid €200 of their salary (€510) to the club, which then passed it on to the volunteers to reward them. A bonus of €100 per month was also to be allocated to them for their food and travel expenses. They will never see this bonus, also paid to club volunteers. In total, twenty-four young people were involved in this affair. And €32,000 were embezzled over eight years.
“The club was not financially healthycomments Romain Chuat, president since September 13. We tried to find solutions to reward volunteers. But it was not legal, not normal. It was a mistake. A terrible experience that will leave its mark.» Indeed, searches, police custody and court appearances leave some unhappy memories. In the end, four people (the two presidents, the secretary and the technical director) were sentenced by the courts to different sentences, ranging from three to eight months in prison, suspended, and fines of €2,500 to €5,000. The club, for its part, had to pay a fine of €19,410. But no ban on practicing has been imposed. This point is important for what follows.
The technical director and the mayor face to face
Because at the same time, the technical director of the club, husband of the former secretary of the club, received an exceptional bonus of €3,300in cash, in 2024. No proof of the origin of the money is available. “It is impossible to pinpoint the origin of this agent», According to Romain Chuat. “I discovered the amount of this bonus during the trialhe continues. A bonus doesn’t shock me, especially given his investment, to the detriment of his family life. Rewarding your employees is normal. And smoothed out over the six years when we couldn’t do it, that’s €41 per month. Is this indecent? I don’t think so. But it must be the subject of deliberation with the management office.»
All this commotion is not to the taste of the mayor of Amblainville Joël Vasquez who, it seems, has a grudge against the technical director of the club. “During his hearing at the gendarmerie, he spoke of mistreatment by our technical director towards children, but also towards his own wifeblurted out the club president. All this was reported by a gendarmerie officer. I’ll let you imagine the psychological impact for him. All this under the guise of “I was told”. No complaint was filed, no family made a report.» Comments immediately confirmed by the vice-president of the French Gymnastics Federation: “I have not been aware of any reports by parents of the club, nor have there been any on Signal sport, the ministry’s unit“. Present in the assembly, Joël Vasquez did not reconsider his remarks.
The community of communes wants “measures”
Above, the community of communes of Sablons, which largely contributed to the financing of the hall which hosts the club, was also interested in the matter. Last December 19, during a community council meeting, a motion was also voted on unanimously against the club.
“In view of the convictions handed down by judgment on December 6 against the two former presidents, the former secretary and the current technical director of Defense of Amblainville, the elected officials of the community of communes of Sablons ask for this that all consequences be drawn from these convictions by the new management team. It is indeed necessary to re-establish a climate of trust between the management team of the association, its members and the communities which have always supported the club. The seriousness of the alleged facts, the opaque management and a lack of sincerity of the association’s accounts make it essential that the Amblainville Defense definitively and radically breaks with the practices for which its managers and employees have been condemned.
The community of municipalities not supporting these highly reprehensible practices and constraints on the values held by our intercommunity, will retain a careful look at the measures that will have to be taken quickly by the association office. Without correction of the functioning of the association by its leaders, our support will necessarily be called into question. We also hope that the French gymnastics federation will be vigilant about the future of the club and provide it with all its support in the dynamic of changing its practices.”
The club does not want to fire its technical director
If the request is not explicitly indicated, the current President of Defense draws a conclusion: the elected officials want the club fires its technical director. Will half-confessed by Joël Vasquez. “In September 2020, I learned that my first deputy had put his hand in the jam jarexplains the mayor. The prefecture asked me to withdraw its delegations. I asked him to leave, he left. Today, Amblainvillois do not understand why an assistant resigns and a technical director stays for the same reasons. It’s called fairness!»
Problem, the club cannot dismiss someone without proof. And above all does not want to fire his sports director and coach. “Today, I am being asked to go beyond a legal decisione, analyzes Romain Chuat. People have already been convicted. There is no way I would dismiss an employee who has not committed any professional misconduct. And behind that, finding a trainer of this level is impossible.” “There are more offers than demands, today no one wants to be a coach with evening and weekend work», Supports Mickaël Deroubaix.
Who says loss of technical director means stopping competitions, says drop in members, says drop in revenue… “Tonight your club is set to disappear», Threatens the president in front of the assembly turned against the mayor. Because if the club does not respond to requests from institutions, the latter could be forced to refuse them access to the room. But we are not at that stage yet.
Defense is trying to better structure itself so as not to repeat its mistakes
The community of municipalities could look favorably on the fact that the club is trying to structure itself betterso as not to repeat the same mistakes as in the past. The new management team has decided to put to the vote, during this general meeting, the appointment of new members within the office. People with skills who could avoid future problems: a human resources director, a secretary, a payslip expert, and the club champion Erwan le Rouzo who will be the link between office decisions and the sporting part. Little by little, everything is falling into place so that the situation becomes clearer.
From now on, steps must be taken on each side, everyone will have to put water in their wine so that the club, which has 590 members this year, does not disappear. “We’re going into a wall, we have to pull ourselves together and make an effort to keep this tool, otherwise we’re going to do baby gym like in Bornel», Comments Dominique Toscani, vice-president for sports at the community of municipalities, to lighten the atmosphere and try to mediate history.
Mickaël Deroubaix will also have this role of mediator, which he intends to use during a future meeting planned with Joël Vasquez and Nathalie Ravier, president of the intercommunality. A meeting which should, if all goes well, unblock a dialogue which seems to be at a standstill. So that hundreds of children and adults who are passionate about gym are no longer able to practice their sport because of a personal quarrel.
An exceptional sporting record
Despite all these quarrels, La Défense d’Amblainville remains an attractive club and obtains very good results each year on the departmental, regional and national scenes. From 520 members registered last year, the club now has 590.
And during the previous season, twenty-four titles were won at departmental level, eleven at inter-departmental (formerly Picardy), and six at regional level. Eleven gymnasts participated in the national finals, a record for the club. Among them, Erwan Le Rouzo, 29 years old, won the title of French national champion 18 years and over. Also, six teams participated in the national finals, a record equaled for the club.
