French press review 25 July 2013

Trains and railroads are on the front pages of three different French dailies today. And there's the ongoing sport doping debate.

While tabloid Aujourd’hui en France reports on Wednesday's tragic train crash in north-western Spain, right-wing Le Figaro and the communist newspaper l’Humanité focus on the SNCF, France’s state-owned railway company.

I’m sure you remember the tragedy in Brétigny-sur-Orge two weeks ago, where a train was derailed because of faulty tracks killing six people.

Today, France's state rail company issued a report on the accident, a report that leaves many unanswered questions, according to Le Figaro.

The SNCF will have to be more convincing and explain the circumstances of the accident to the three judges that have been appointed to run the investigation into homicide and unintentional injuries, says the paper.

L’Humanité, on the other hand, takes a deeper look not into the case itself, but into the negligence and security breaches within the company that led to the accident.

According to employees and trade unionists intreviewed by the newspaper, the safety of France’s national railroads has long been alarming due to costs of maintenance and unsupervised subcontracting.

A 2011 report states that 22 independent companies are authorised to intervene on the French railway, while the SNCF has cut jobs in the past years. According to l’Humanité, this subcontracting frenzy has favoured financially attractive collaborations, while often disregarding the qualifications of the employees and their knowledge of security measures.

Doping in sports is also sharing the headlines of today’s press, as a French Senate investigation commission issued a report on anti-doping measures and their efficiency.

“Are they all doped?” left-wing Libération’s headline reads.

The paper explains the limits of anti-doping measures, as the phenomenon is growing in both professional and amateur sports. Cyclists are the most frequently tested, explains the paper, followed by rugbymen and track and field athletes.

Le Figaro explains how the Senate aims to put an end to this growing problem and publishes an interesting article on the future of cheating which, according to scientists, will be through gene-doping, the non-therapeutic use of cells and genes that can improve athletic performance.

Former French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur is back on the front page of Le Monde as the funding of his 1995 presidential campaign is still under investigation.

Balladur is suspected to have used public funds from the PM’s office for his campaign and of being involved in the now famous Karachi affair, which has seen Lebanese businessman, Ziad Takieddine, confess to prosecutors that he illegally funded Balladur’s presidential campaign using kickbacks from arms contracts he had helped negotiate with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.