It’s time for the pugilists to take a punch by publishing an open letter demanding the resignation of Daniel Trépanier, high performance director at Boxing Canada.
More than a hundred of them signed the missive, also demanding an investigation into the culture and safe practice of the sport within the Canadian federation.
In this letter to Sport Canada on Wednesday morning, the athletes said Boxing Canada maintains a toxic culture of fear and silence within.
For more than a decade, Boxing Canada athletes and coaches who spoke out against wrongdoing and advocated reform were expelled from the organization.can we read in the document.
” Many athletes feel that they have suffered physical and psychological abuse and neglect from the organization because of their refusal to address these issues. Several attempts were made to highlight these issues, and they were ignored or dismissed outright. “
Boxers identified four main components of concern: governance and transparency, safety, toxic culture, harassment and favoritism.
Last year, they pointed out, a compendium of the experiences of many boxers was submitted to Boxing Canada’s board of directors, but no investigation was launched to study these allegations. The letter sent on Wednesday was endorsed by 121 active and retired boxers, and covers a period in 2008.
It was handed over to Federal Sport Minister Pascal St-Onge, Own the Podium Executive Director Anne Merklinger, Boxing Canada’s Board of Directors and AthletesCAN.
Mandy Bujold, a two-time Pan American Games gold medalist and 11-time Canadian champion who has twice competed in the Olympics, tweeted the following: I support athletes and coaches! #Timeforchange.
At this time, Boxing Canada did not respond to requests for comment.
This letter was published when Minister St-Onge admitted the existence of a crisis in Canadian sport. He said he learned of allegations of child abuse, sexual assault and embezzlement by at least eight national sports organizations in his first five months on the job.
Canadian bobsledders and skeleton specialists wrote a similar letter in March requesting the resignation of their program’s president and high-performance director. They have already indicated that they will not participate in a mediation process, as they believe a bandage on a severe wound .
Additionally, a group of approximately 70 gymnasts – who have since grown to more than 450 – wrote to Sport Canada requesting an independent investigation to explain the culture of abuse in their sport.
Source: Radio-Canada
