Patinage Magazine meets Djamel Cheikh, National Technical Director of F.F.S.G.

Head of the CREPS Centre Val de Loire for eighteen years, first as Head of the high-level department, then Deputy Director and finally Director, Mr. Djamel Cheikh joined F.F.S.G. as National Technical Director in November 2022. He agreed to answer our questions between two events of the 2025 French Elite Championships in Annecy.

Patinage Magazine: Can you explain to us what the work of a National Technical Director consists of?

Djamel Cheikh: Large subject! (laughs) The work of a N.T.D. is the work of a top manager. I am an agent of the Ministry of Sports, appointed by Madam the Minister of Sports. I am responsible for carrying out the project of the federation and all the public policies put forward by the State. In these public policies, there is obviously high-level sport. So I am in charge of all the French teams, as well as training and setting up detection at the national level for each of the disciplines. The second very important part of my role is the training of managers, that is to say initial training, but also in-service training. I have set up new systems. The third part is the development of practices. These are the main major chapters carried by the national technical management, to which is now added the prevention of violence which is integrated into all areas, training, approach to high-level sport, etc. I am at the service of the governance in place.

Patinage Magazine: The F.F.S.G. is not just figure skating…

Djamel Cheikh: While hockey is now independent, all other ice sports fall under the federation’s umbrella: figure skating, ice dancing, bobsleigh, short track, speed, curling, as well as ice cross, which is booming. We recently had a World Cup event in Val Thorens that went very well. We cover all the Olympic disciplines, but also those that are currently developing.

Patinage Magazine: We are in Annecy for the French figure skating and ice dance championships. What do you think of the French level in these two disciplines?

Djamel Cheikh: We have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to our athletes, quite the contrary. We have very good skaters and dancers who perform at an international level. With the national technical management, I am particularly committed to working on the next generation. I have recruited in this direction. There will soon be someone to take care of development within the clubs, through the ongoing training of coaches, because they are the first actors in basic training, starting with the skaters' first steps. The goal is to erase certain flaws from the start, because deconstructing in order to rebuild is always very difficult. I am in favor of this "ecosystem" to be set up so that we have high performance over time, not just occasionally. But already today we have a very, very high level in ice dance. We are very well placed in the men's category too. We need to raise the level in the women's category. We lack density in women's figure skating. There too we are working to put back in place a detection system that works. In short track, we have also put back in place a training process. At the moment our seniors are in Bormio in Italy to work with their transalpine counterparts. We are fortunate to have been able to achieve an intelligent collaboration with the Italian federation, which is hosting us in its large short track centre in preparation for the 2026 Olympic Games. We have the necessary equipment for training in Font Romeu, but the track is currently under construction. I asked the C.R.E.P.S. and the region to bring this track up to current standards so that we can work in the best conditions, which was not the case until now. The work has just started. In the meantime, we are in Bormio, where the conditions are ideal. I am working with the A.N.S. [National Sports Agency] to try to launch a project to create an ice rink in a public establishment, either in one of the C.R.E.P.S. [Centre for Resources, Expertise and Sports Performance], which could be used for short track, but also for figure skating and ice dance. These disciplines are compatible in terms of practice. The expressive disciplines can be trained between the foam boards required for the short track. I have had very favorable feedback from the A.N.S., I still need to find the community that will help us on this issue. As for long track, when I arrived at the federation, the delegation had been given to roller skating. Eventually, we will ask for it again because long track is on ice! That is why I do not consider the transfer of this discipline to roller skating relevant. Especially since roller skating is not recognized by the ISU while all our other sports are. Today, I am the one who registers athletes for long track competitions, even though they are not in my federation. You see the lack of logic. We will ask for this delegation again, but we will probably not have a long track training center. The equipment is heavy and very expensive, so everything is much more complicated!

By Kate Royan