"You can't choose your family". But at Decathlon, the handover is a family affair. From 10 March, Julien Leclercq, son of founder Michel Leclercq, will take over as board chairman the sports equipment giant. The announcement was made on Monday 24 February by Decathlon, which is part of the Mulliez family.

Julien Leclercq, 40, knows the company well. A member of the board of directors, he has twenty years' experience within the group, where he has risen through the ranks. His career has taken him from floor manager in Spain to shop manager in Belgium, before initiating the group's operations in Singapore. "He also headed up the Genairgy investment fund and helped to set up Decathlon Travel, a specialist in sports travel", the company's press release noted.

His appointment is the result of a selection process conducted over several months by the group's shareholders. He will succeed Fabien Derville, in post since 2018.

This change comes at a time when Decathlon is going through a difficult period. The company was recently profiled by the French investigative news site Disclose on France 2 TV’s Cash Investigation programme, which claimed it benefited from the . The company, which said it had 100,000 employees and 1,700 shops in over 70 countries, immediately condemned "all forms of forced labour".

Decathlon set up in Luxembourg in , with the opening of its first shop near Place Hamilius in Luxembourg City.