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In Ile-de-France, the Covid-19 has put sport on the mat

2021-03-20T15:13:30.195Z


The number of members in sports associations is in free fall. We exclusively reveal the figures for this drop in the


An alarming finding.

Some Ile-de-France sports associations have lost more than half of their licensees since the start of the pandemic.

At the regional level, the leagues of the different disciplines keep the accounts.

And if, in Ile-de-France, outdoor sports manage to limit damage, like rugby (-6.5%) or tennis and football (nearly 9%), this is not This is not the case for combat or indoor sports, such as swimming (-40%), handball (-25%) or French boxing, whose number of members has been halved in one year (-56% )!

As of January 1, 2021, despite the gradual resumption of video or outdoor training for many disciplines, the clubs have not seen their licensees return.

“Worse, we are often asked for license refunds because there are no more matches, sighs the president of a football club in Essonne.

It should be explained that the major part of the contribution is transferred to our departmental and regional authorities and to the federation.

We only keep a small part of it.

And we did not have the usual financial income from the refreshment stall, the tournaments or our sponsors ... We are going to need help.

But all the communities are also bloodless.

"

"It is inevitable that some continue clandestinely"

"And again, in football, it is nothing compared to certain sports where you pay in advance for courses, the clubs have made assets, because the courses could not be held and they will end up in the red when you have to resume activity and pay the coaches, ”underlines Patrick Karam, the elected (Free!) for sports in the Ile-de-France region who released 7 million euros for clubs in 2021.

In some disciplines, the fixed costs remain very high.

“In horseback riding, for example, we cannot put everyone on short-time work or stop maintaining the premises or the animals,” continues Patrick Karam.

Stopping sport will lead to economic disaster.

Not to mention that it is better to supervise a practice than to prohibit it because it is inevitable that some continue clandestinely, as was the case with MMA

(Editor's note: combat sport)

when it was not authorized in France.

"

What happened in Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis), with boxing lessons and a futsal match without a mask, in a municipal gymnasium, without the authorization of the town hall.

About twenty people were fined and a man taken into custody for endangering the lives of others.

"But boxing or fitness classes, we know that there are everywhere," says the manager of a boxing club in Paris who shows videos to support his words.

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High-level athletes, registered on a list by their federation, as well as some practitioners with medical authorization can practice indoors, with their usual partner.

"But I took many young people in a room in my city of which I have the keys, they needed to let off steam, admits a boxing coach in Val-de-Marne.

We do that regularly.

"

As the sports halls are closed, a course is organized on the banks of the Seine in Paris.

LP / Valentin Cebron  

Patrick Karam therefore calls on the Minister for Sport, Roxana Maracineanu, to "resume sport, in a reasoned way."

The survival of many associations is at stake.

“In the Essonne judo league, we don't say anything else.

"I am afraid that some will stop sport or enroll in outdoor activities and do not return to the tatami", breathes Fabrice Guilley, the president of the Essonne league, who has lost 4,290 licensees and does not has more than 8504 judokas in its department.

"The sedentary lifestyle figures are alarming"

"We now leave gymnasiums open for a small audience, which has an enormous cost, we made an immediate aid plan for local sport to help them stay afloat but we need the State accompanies us on the recovery plan ”, ton Pierre Rabadan, the deputy to the sport of the City of Paris, which made vote 6 million euros for the sport at the time of the Council of Paris last December.

“The sedentary lifestyle figures are alarming, especially among young people.

It is imperative to anticipate the recovery.

"

"We have been mobilized from the start to support associations in distress," the Ministry of Sports reminds us.

All associations which have at least one employee are eligible for the solidarity fund.

And for small clubs that only have volunteers, we have an emergency aid system.

»15 million euros in 2020 and another 15 million euros in 2021 have been allocated for this purpose.

Finally, from September, 100 million euros are planned to help finance the licenses of nearly 1.8 million athletes (50 to 80 euros per person).

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2021-03-20

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