Meeting on Monday, the congress of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) was to validate the new bill on sport which will be tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Above all, it was the scene of a shocking declaration from its president Denis Masseglia.
Faced with the emergence of new variants of Covid-19 and the worsening of health situations across the planet, Masseglia confided, by videoconference to his audience, that the athletes participating in the next Olympic Games in Tokyo who will not be vaccinated will have to deal with "extremely difficult" conditions.
He added that they should respect "a form of quarantine, fortnight" once there in Japan and that "it will be necessary to do morning and evening tests".
Measures that could have "a dissuasive effect", according to him, for those who refuse to be vaccinated.
Six months before the start of the event, scheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021 and already postponed for the first time to last spring due to the health crisis, the announcements of Masseglia, who spoke last Friday by videoconference with the President of the IOC Thomas Bach, challenge.
Opening by Denis Masseglia, President of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, of a #CNOSF Congress, in particular devoted to the bill aimed at democratizing sport in France.
# CongrèsCNOSF pic.twitter.com/Ch1eU3woYk
- France Olympique (@FranceOlympique) January 25, 2021
Will athletes have to respect a strict quarantine like what tennis players are currently experiencing in Australia to participate in the next Grand Slam tournament?
Contacted Monday evening, Denis Masseglia returned to his comments.
“I went a little too fast, that's not really what I meant, he told us.
But the truth is that athletes who will not be vaccinated will have to submit to the health measures that the Japanese authorities will put in place.
We do not know today what will be the context this summer but we can expect different Games.
Everything will not be back to normal by then.
It is not known whether the Games will be held behind closed doors or with the public.
The priority is and will remain the health of athletes and the Japanese.
"
"My role is to convince the most skeptics ... You have to get vaccinated"
He confirms that athletes who will not be vaccinated will have to "respect a quarantine, the duration of which is not yet known but during which they will be able to train so as not to alter their performance".
They will also have to undergo "a battery of tests, perhaps every day like the handball players currently at the World Championship (in Egypt)".
On the other hand, he confirms that the IOC will not force the athletes to go through the puncture box.
For the president of the CNOSF, the vaccine can bring a certain serenity: “I have taken a position for vaccination, I hope that all French athletes will be in this perspective.
Athletes must also understand that the vaccine is good for those around them, for the French delegation.
For our Japanese friends, hosting athletes and accredited people from all over the world requires a bit of care.
My role is to convince the most skeptics.
If we want to be quiet, we must get vaccinated.
"
The vaccination campaign has not started in Japan
In France, nearly a million priority people have been vaccinated, but the pace of vaccination is extremely varied around the world, some countries - like Japan - have not even started their campaign.
This question of the vaccination of athletes also raises an ethical problem.
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"There is no question that athletes have priority over other categories of the population, but between now and the Games, one can think that there is the possibility of having them vaccinated without this penalizing other people", hopes Denis Masseglia.
In France, Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said she was "waiting" for a clear decision from the sports movement on the issue, "whether it be from the International Federations or the IOC".
The issue could be addressed on Wednesday during the IOC Executive Board… which officially encourages the vaccination of athletes.