Former basketball player Emilie Gomis has resigned from her position as ambassador for the 2024 Paris Olympics after being criticized for an Instagram post about Israel, the Olympic Games organizing committee (Cojo) stated in a press release. The general assembly of Paris 2024, meeting on Wednesday, “considered that this publication violated its duty of neutrality and no longer allowed it to carry out its missions calmly with Paris 2024,” the statement said. “In a shared concern for appeasement and responsibility, Emilie Gomis wished to present his resignation from her position as a member of the Board of Directors and ambassador of the label Terre de Jeux 2024 at Paris 2024, which takes note of it,” the Cojo added. Two days after the attacks carried out by Hamas on Israel on October 7, former basketball player Emilie Gomis briefly published a message in which maps of France from 1947, 1967, and 2023 were shown, on which the tricolor flag covering French territory was gradually replaced by the Israeli flag, with this question: “What would you do in this situation?”. “In our statutes, it is clearly stated that the representatives of Paris 2024 must have exemplary behavior and a willingness to appease in relation to these issues,” said Tony Estanguet, the president of the Cojo. Gomis was questioned this Wednesday The Board of Directors and the General Assembly of Paris 2024 met this Wednesday to hear Emilie Gomis and her lawyers. “The members of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly were able to see that Emilie Gomis condemned the attacks on October 7 in Israel, any form of anti-Semitism or discrimination, contrary to its values. Emilie Gomis also expressed her regrets regarding her publication and apologized,” the Cojo stated. These apologies were not enough for her to retain her position, although the Cojo recognized in its message “the remarkable career of Emilie Gomis as an athlete but also her commitment to the promotion of sports activities for young people and the values of sports and Olympism.”
