"The clubs are going to die, they are on the verge of breaking up,"
Roxana Maracineanu warned on the "Talk Le Figaro" set on Monday.
"We must support them because their financial balance is called into question,"
she insisted.
Professional or amateur, sport also pays a heavy price.
To avoid the worst,
"the State has sought to have a balance, 200 million for pro sport and 200 million for amateur sport".
Of the 200 million euros released for professional sport, aid is mainly and proportionally allocated to football, rugby and to a lesser extent basketball, handball and volleyball
.
"It is also a question of compensating for part of the loss of ticketing due to the closed door",
she explained.
However, the Minister in charge of Sports was very clear:
"The effort must be collective."
Last week, the football world was in turmoil over the broadcast of matches.
"Whether it is Mediapro or Canal +, at one point they made a conscious commitment, they knew what football was worth",
loose Maracineanu.
“Historic broadcasters must be aware of their responsibility in this period of crisis,
” she added.
It is obviously not the state that will subsidize French football. ”
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The situation is such that some clubs may not recover.
"250 files have arrived at the ministry, even if not all of them concern football," she
assures us.
"We tried to find measures adapted to each case",
clubs with more than 250 employees cannot benefit from all the aids
,
on the other hand
"all the clubs in Leagues 1 and 2 need it, they will soon receive the aid "
.
What about the drop in footballers' salaries?
"It is coming,
indicates the former champion,
the leaders no longer have a choice."
Certainly,
"the players must make efforts, the leaders of the authorities too".
As for broadcasters, sports betting sites, all those who take advantage of the football economy,
“they must ask themselves the question of their own sustainability.
If the clubs die, it will be very difficult to rebuild, ”
she warns.
Read also:
The fall in footballers' salaries, a (very) sensitive subject
Beyond economic considerations, sport is also at the forefront of health.
Roxana Maracineanu's priority is to
“preserve the health of athletes”.
Recalling that France is committed to having a very strict health protocol, another of its priorities is also to preserve competition.
Each federation has submitted a protocol to the Ministry of Sports, which the latter has validated by the Ministry of Health.
It underlines a significant investment of the federations in terms of time and money, in particular for all the tests, because
"the players have three to four tests per week according to the sports".
Sanitary bubble
Regarding the 2021 6 Nations Tournament, will it be able to take place and under what conditions?
"Everyone, everyone who will participate in this tournament, must be subject to the same rules,"
insists the minister.
The Six Nations committee will have to put in place a strict and unique sanitary protocol for the entire Tournament, which lasts two months and begins on February 6.
Favorable to the concept of health bubble, she is also aware that players will leave this bubble to return to their clubs.
Beyond the case of rugby, should top-level athletes be vaccinated as a priority?
“There is no question of them being a priority, but they travel a lot, they will have to be taken into account when the time comes.
We must not forget them, that's all, ”
she points out.
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European rugby upside down due to the Covid-19
As for amateur sport, it is a real problem, because
"we do not want associations to have a white season".
However, each time there are additional closure measures, it is the practice of indoor sport that toasts. As announced last Thursday by Jean Castex, the practice of sport outdoors only is possible,
"from 6 am to 6 pm for the moment"
until further notice. As such, the ministry is working on the project of a sports mask labeled and approved by Afnor to practice sport in a closed environment.
"If we manage to have this mask, it will also allow the reopening of sports halls and the resumption of activities for minors and adults in a closed environment",
calls for the minister.
