According to the CNOSF, "without a rescue plan, there will be no more pro female sport"

Worried about the survival of amateur sport clubs and associations due to the coronavirus crisis, Denis Masseglia is also concerned about professional female sport.

“Without a rescue plan for professional women's sport, it will disappear tomorrow.

We cannot ask clubs forever to lose money, ”he told the Senate Committee on Culture and Education.

Relaunched by the centrist Senator Annick Billon, the president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) explained that women's sport "was already in bad shape before" the health crisis, in particular with reference to its difficulties in finding broadcasters at the television or financial partners.

"The women's recovery plan should be a permanent support plan," he said.

A decrease in memberships of around 25%

On amateur sport, the CNOSF recently launched a survey of clubs, 16,000 of which have already responded.

"This will allow us to have a better estimate of the shortfall of the associative sports movement", around November 10, he explained.

At this stage, he still estimates that the drop in memberships is on average around 25%.

Asked about the distribution of the amount of 107 million euros pledged by the government to compensate for the loss of ticketing revenue, Mr. Masseglia replied that he did not know it, even if rugby is already prevailed by 40 millions on this sum.

The payment of this aid is conditional on its compatibility with the European Union, and is not yet on the agenda.

In any case, he said, this one "will not be enough to compensate for the budgetary loss of the matches which did not take place", especially in sports such as basketball, volleyball and handball whose revenues depend on the ticket office.

Compared to 107 million, he referred to "a net loss of 100 million for Roland-Garros".

On October 26, the CNOSF and 95 sports federations deplored, in an open letter to Emmanuel Macron, not being one of the priorities in the management of the coronavirus crisis, and denounced "a stigma as violent as it is unfounded".

Read also

• "Distraught", the CNOSF and 95 sports federations turn to Macron