GYMNASTICS PRESIDENT: WE SHARE PAIN
INTERNATIONAL Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President Morinari Watanabe reflected on the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal in his New Year’s message, stating “we should share the pain.”
The fallout from the Nassar crisis overshadowed gymnastics throughout 2018, with the former American team doctor being sentenced to up to 175 years in prison earlier in the year.
Nassar was found guilty of sexually abusing dozens of American gymnasts, including major stars.
USA Gymnastics has struggled to respond to the crisis, with several appointments criticized by gymnasts and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) beginning the process of decertifying the body.
Last month USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in a move which the embattled organization said will enable it to “expeditiously resolve” the claims made by the survivors of sexual abuse.
An independent report published by law firm Ropes & Gray claimed both USOC and USA Gymnastics had facilitated Nassar’s abuse and had failed to act when the allegations against him emerged.
Senators have called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate.
In response, the FIG Congress approved the creation of a Gymnastics Violence Prevention Foundation at their Congress last month in Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku.
The creation of such a body was first suggested by Watanabe last February. “We should not turn our eyes away from those gymnasts who are harassed,” Watanabe wrote in his New Year’s message.
“The pain that the United States feels is not the pain of the United States alone. It is the pain of all of us in the gymnastics family. “We all should share the pain. “We all should share the happiness.
“That is because we are family.” Watanabe also revealed FIG’s slogan for 2019 would be “We Are Family,” following on from last year’s theme of “innovation.”
The FIG president claimed the “gymnastics family” should recognize financially challenged countries and regions in his message, as well as those who lack “technical capacities.”
The Japanese official asserted that the FIG should organize championships to provide value for spectators and claimed each gymnastics discipline had achieved innovation in each of its World Championships last year.
“In the current era, sports cannot develop unless they evolve as entertainment,” Watanabe said. “In that sense, each of our World Championships last year was an innovative event.”