The elected communists and ecologists of Paris, allies of the mayor PS Anne Hidalgo, criticize the decision to baptize "Adidas-La Chapelle district" the future Olympic enclosure in the north of the capital, to the detriment of Alice Milliat, pioneer of women's sport.
"
This reversal is not acceptable
", writes in a petition published on the change.org site the leader of the elected Communists on the municipal council, Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, about the deliberation voted on Thursday by the board of directors of the operating company of the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy (SAE POPB).
The SAE-POPB, to which the City has entrusted the management of the future sports hall with 8,000 seats currently under construction at Porte de La Chapelle (18th arrondissement), voted, according to the elected Communist, one of its administrators, a “
naming
” partnership
worth nearly 2.8 million euros per year, over 5 years renewable, with the German equipment manufacturer.
Since 2015, Paris-Bercy has itself been the subject of such sponsorship with the Accor hotel group.
“Brand dominance over athletes”
But for Mr. Bonnet-Oulaldj, hostile to these namings, this future partnership with Adidas confirms the "
dominance of the sports brand over athletes
" in a structure under public funding - the site is valued at around 100 million euros - but which will become "
the site of Adidas in France
".
The elected communist has been campaigning for several years for the Arena de La Chapelle to bear the name of Alice Milliat, who fought in the 1920s for women to be able to participate in the Olympic Games.
In 2020, the Council of Paris had voted on its initiative that the City "
study the possibility of naming the future Olympic equipment Arena Alice Milliat
".
The City must "
respect the will of the Council of Paris
", asks the environmental group, also very critical of the partnership with Adidas which "
tramples
" according to him "
the feminist, human and environmental commitments of the City of Paris
".
Joined by AFP, Pierre Rabadan, sports and Olympics assistant to PS mayor Anne Hidalgo, defends the "
true sports policy
" of Adidas, which will contribute to an endowment fund to "
develop the practice of women's sport in the north of Paris
.
Adidas "
comes with a certain financial ambition to support the economic model of the Arena
", says Mr. Rabadan for whom an agreement in principle has been reached with the Alice-Milliat foundation in order to give its name to the forecourt.
