The French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) and 95 sports federations deplore, in an open letter to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, not counting among the priorities in the management of the coronavirus crisis, and denounce "a stigma as violent as 'unfounded'.
In this letter, the signatories say they are "distraught to note that the federated sport sector, with its unique social and economic model, bearer of values essential to the republican social fabric, does not clearly count in our country's priorities for action. in times of crisis.
For several months, we have been doing everything possible to adapt to the hazards and to the multiple divergent and sometimes contradictory applications of health doctrine in the field (...) Despite these efforts, our competitions and scheduled or rescheduled events are canceled, often at at the last minute and due to excessive and unjustified application of sanitary measures by local authorities. "
SOS: Sport in distress!
On behalf of the French Sports Movement, 95 sports federations are sending an open letter to the President of the Republic, @EmmanuelMacron: https://t.co/wDFz4VDY3U.
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- France Olympique (@FranceOlympique) October 26, 2020
“We are already deploring more than a quarter of fewer memberships, to the point that many clubs are now wondering if they will be able to make it through the year because more than 80% of them, only run by volunteers, pillars of amateur sport, are still excluded today from the aid measures provided for in the support plan piloted by the Ministry of the Economy ”, continue the signatories.
"You will therefore understand the incomprehension which is ours to undergo a stigmatization as violent as unfounded, because not supported by objective elements.
How can we understand and explain why other activities are still permitted, including in the areas most affected by the epidemic, but not the practice of sport in areas that are nevertheless more preserved? ”
The CNOSF and the signatory federations denounce “the failure to take into account the specificities of [their] sector by an appropriate support system.
In terms of budget, we regret that the few euros promised here are taken back to us there, in unworthy and humiliating sleight of hand.
We must therefore live with (the virus) as long as it has not been defeated, but we do not want to disappear before it, ”conclude the signatories, recalling France's hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024. Emmanuel Macron will meet this Tuesday a Defense Council before its Prime Minister Jean Castex receives at the end of the day the political forces then the social partners in Matignon, suggesting a hardening of the measures to fight against the Covid.
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