The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Recovery: combat sports still in the dark

2020-07-08T18:30:40.680Z


Despite the resumption of many sports since the deconfinement, the practice of contact sports is still prohibited.


While many sports have been given the green light to resume, combat sports practitioners are still in the dark. Sports halls and dojos were indeed allowed to reopen their doors to the public several weeks ago, provided they did not practice contact sports. In clubs, we get impatient…

Uneven recovery

Bernard Pélissier, manager of the Kikentaï club in Paris, had to adapt very quickly to the new sanitary measures. In boxing, its members do shadow boxing (boxing in a vacuum with an imaginary opponent) or even muscle building in judo. And all this outdoors, to avoid the risk of contamination.

Despite the reopening of the private room, the confinement had a major impact on the funding of the club. "Financially, it was a difficult year for us: between strikes and coronavirus ... Fortunately, we have a lot of loyal members and the banks have given us loans," says Bernard Pélissier.

Among the clubs and associations that practice in municipal halls, activity is often at a standstill.

This is the case of Emmanuel Charlot, president of a judo association, the Ippon club of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, and editor-in-chief of the magazine L'Esprit du Judo: "I have the impression that sports are not a priority for the government, when there is a very big social issue. "" It is absolutely essential that activity resume in September otherwise all the associations will collapse. If I cannot resume activity before the start of the school year, we will have to put our only employee permanently unemployed, ”he continues.

Anger and misunderstanding

The resumption of sports such as football or even rugby have reacted in the world of combat sports. "I have heard many people say that they do not understand the logic of government. They ask me why can rugby players train and touch each other when it is forbidden for us? ", Says Jean-Luc Rougé, the president of the French Judo Federation (FFDJA).

Newsletter - The essentials of the news

Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien

I'm registering

Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more

The FFJDA, as well as the French Confederation of Martial Arts and Combat Sports, bring together around 1.4 million licensees in France. They have already had a rant on June 19 and now plan to solicit the minister "in order to emphasize the importance of the equal recovery for all sports".

"The FFJUDO as well as the French Confederation of Martial Arts and Combat Sports [...] would not understand that combat sports cannot resume their activities at the same time as collective sports"
The press release of the FFJDA ⬇️ # recovery pic.twitter.com/bkjFlgWVzU

- FF Judo (@ffjudo_officiel) June 19, 2020

"We adapted during this complicated period, but after a while, if there is no contact, there is no combat sport," adds Jean-Luc Rougé.

Resumption since June for top athletes

The only exception is that top athletes have been allowed to train outside with opponents since June.

“The containment was complicated for some athletes who were ready for the next competitions. We are late in terms of recovery, which will make the selection for the next Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 very complicated on a global level, ”explains the president of the FFJDA.

Fans feel frustrated that they cannot train anymore. "I am deeply upset because I do not understand the government's decision," said Chloé Lesenne, teacher and amateur boxing competitor. The municipal hall in which she trained has still not reopened. The situation would widen a inequality gap between athletes, she said: "Only those who can afford to pay for a private room can continue to train. Even if I run outdoors or shadow boxing, I feel frustrated that I don't have any opposition. It is very difficult psychologically. "

"A justified decision"

For Stéphane Gayet, infectious disease specialist at the Strasbourg University Hospital, the ban on contact sports is justified: “Contact in combat sports is prolonged and close between two people. The mask is hardly possible because it would cause respiratory discomfort, which creates a maximum risk of contamination. "

"We must not forget that sports such as football and rugby are mainly practiced outdoors, which reduces the risk of contamination" recalls Stéphane Gayet.

Combat clubs and practitioners will have to wait until July 11 to find out if they can practice combat sports as a partner.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2020-07-08

You may like

Sports 2024-01-30T20:29:50.014Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.