Seen from Sweden, the conviction of Julia Simon in the bank card fraud affair will cause big turmoil within the French team.
Now less than a month before the start of the new World Cup season, all eyes are on France. Consequence of the conviction of Julia Simon by the courts in the bank card fraud case. The biathlete from Les Saisies, who admitted the facts, was sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros by the Albertville criminal court for theft and fraud.
And since the announcement of the judgment, the question of his future in the French team has arisen. The French ski federation (FFS) must in fact decide on a possible sporting sanction against the world champion, the sanctions could range from a simple warning to lifetime exclusion through a suspension of several months.
The director of the Biathlon Integrity Unit (BIU) Greg McKenna recently affirmed that the international federation could also take action. “Such behavior may fall under the code of integrity as acts likely to harm the image or reputation of sport,” he warned.
“It’s so big”
But for the opponents of Julia Simon and the French, the situation is simply not tenable for the Blues. “ The group will be affected and the opposite would be really very strange, warned Sebastian Samuelsson, Swedish biathlon star, in remarks relayed by Nordic Skiing. This will lead to conflict within the France team and fortunately I am not in that environment. »
The observation is the same for sisters Hanna and Elvira Oeberg.
“I’m really not jealous of this situation. All of a sudden she confesses and it’s a total change from her team, it’s a very strange situation, indicated the second to the SVT. We really don’t want to belong to the group and experience this from the inside. »
“We don’t believe for a single second that such a thing can happen within a team, added his sister. It’s so big that one wonders if it could be true. »
