French sport could very quickly take on the Lyon accent. After Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, appointed last week at the head of a vast ministry bringing together Women's Rights, the City, Youth and Sports, another "Gone" joins the government. Thierry Braillard, 50, vice-president of the Radical Left Party (PRG), was chosen this Wednesday April 9 for the post of Secretary of State for Sports. Like his supervisory minister, he is close to Gérard Collomb, the mayor (PS) of Lyon, for whom he has been deputy for sports since 2001.
His name had rarely been mentioned in recent days among the favorites for the Sports Secretariat. However, it turns out to be very legitimate. Elected toNational Assembly since 2012, in the first constituency of Lyon, Thierry Braillard has always been passionate about sport and very involved in its world. Presented as close to Jean-Michel Aulas, the president of Olympique Lyonnais, he participated this year in the working group for “sustainable football” led by Jean Glavany.
Last year, he was the rapporteur for the information mission on financial fair play in football. He particularly pointed out the very opaque transfer system. In the fall of 2013, he also tried to find a compromise before the adoption of the 75% tax on salaries above 1 million euros, criticized by football clubs. He then proposed to limit this tax only to contracts signed in 2014 and 2015.
A law graduate from Lyon III University and the Lyon Institute of Political Studies, Thierry Braillard has been a legal advisor and, from 1992, a lawyer. With him, the government of Manuel Valls has unearthed a true connoisseur of sport. He will have to look very quickly at the files of the sports modernization law, Euro 2016 football and the French candidacy project for the 2024 Games. And find common ground with the sports movement, embodied by Denis Masseglia, the president of the CNOSF, firmly opposed to Valérie Fourneyron on the question of sports governance.
