His intervention was expected.
This Saturday morning, the Minister for Sports Roxana Maracineanu was the guest of the “Grandes Gueules” on RMC.
On this occasion, she confirmed that, unlike the spring during the first confinement, high-level sport should not stop in France.
“I never envisioned professional sport stopping, regardless of the level of revenue lost due to closed doors,” she warned.
We will be there to help, so we have to keep the activity going […] Everyone moaned when we didn't have the opportunity to continue.
Now that we have the possibility to continue, people want to stop to receive aid.
It is not an option.
We will make sure that the championships in question can continue.
It must continue.
"
🗣 "I never envisaged that professional sport would stop. We must maintain activity"
Roxana Maracineanu, Minister for Sports, calls on all professional structures not to give up the practice of sport in order to maintain momentum in the society.
pic.twitter.com/D2U6zUb4M2
- GGsportRMC (@GGsportRMC) October 31, 2020
Comments that directly target the Basketball League (LNB) which has decided to postpone the matches of the next two days of Jeep Elite and Pro B pending the result of the consultation with the clubs this weekend.
The Steering Committee scheduled for Tuesday will then announce if the League continues or temporarily suspends the season.
"Last spring, we were sure to receive compensation which is essential in our model which is not that of football or rugby," answers Alain Béral, president of the LNB.
We don't have TV rights to support us, we can only live with the presence of the public.
Today, we are not certain of receiving this partial unemployment or social exemption aid.
For the moment, this help is hypothetical and without them, we cannot hold out.
And I think we're not the only ones.
"
The handball and volleyball leagues, whose economy is also based on welcoming the public, have decided to maintain their meetings for the moment.
They will announce their decisions next week.
Alain Béral also points to the fact that some clubs, like Boulazac, "do not have access to their hall which is classified L".
He also wonders about the conditions of organization of trips where the teams could find themselves in hotels without a suitable catering service.
📃 Press release
➡️ The Steering Committee of the National Basketball League met following the speech by the President of the Republic. Https://t.co/Q2cSUcEkxo
- LNB (@LNBofficiel) October 28, 2020
"We would like to play, the players 'union and the coaches' union want to play, but we can't do anything," continues the president of the LNB.
What some clubs have already suffered for some time is between 100,000 euros and 150,000 euros in net losses per game.
How do you want the clubs to fare?
I understand that the government cannot pay these sums, but that we are not criticized for wanting to postpone matches to save our clubs because we cannot play without an audience.
I have a very concrete email from the ministry which explains that if we unilaterally suspend or stop the championship, we will not get any help.
We would like to know what the government can do to help us before we decide.
"
The aid fund of 110 million euros announced by the government to support the professional leagues and the federations would bring him "only 10,000 euros per club", estimates Béral.
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Jeep Elite clubs wishing to do so could also play certain games behind closed doors to allow broadcasts to continue on the L'Équipe channel.
"This allows you to occupy the stage," Béral continues.
The figures are exponential, between 250,000 and 400,000 spectators outside confinement, so we can expect more now.
This is good news but it does not pay the clubs.
We can't hold out without an audience, we would like to, but that's not possible.
"