Former skater Brian Joubert, heard on Friday by the disciplinary committee of the French Ice Sports Federation for alleged acts of violence, denied everything outright, we learned on Friday from his lawyer.
According to Me Franck Nicolleau, the body only looked into the accusations of violence within the Joubert skating club in Poitiers and not into the suspicions of sexual relations with a minor which also weigh on him, the commission considering not to having been informed on this point. Joubert “entirely denied everything he was accused of,” he declared, specifying that the commission would pronounce its decision “within 15 days.”
Brian Joubert is the target of several investigations following reports of violence within his Poitiers club. The testimonies received, from three families, report tantrums, denigrating words and violent gestures on the part of the skater towards the club’s students or their parents.
Joubert is also suspected of having a sexual relationship with a young skater, a minor at the time of the alleged facts, which the skater also denies. In this case, the courts were seized following a report made last July by the prefect of Vienne. For Joubert’s lawyer, these accusations are the result of an “extraordinary cabal” in a context of internal tensions within the Federation.
Joubert, 39, was crowned world figure skating champion in 2007 and also has three European titles (2004, 2007 and 2009). Since his retirement from sports in 2014, he has coached at the “Brian Joubert Poitiers Glace” club.