The Olympic movement sometimes reserves its share of surprises. Since its creation in February 2013, FrancsJeux witnessed this regularly. He told them, the good and the bad. Today, the capacity of the international sports movement to surprise affects us directly. And the surprise is delightful.
Monday October 28, we announced on the home page the near end of the adventure. Unable to find resources and support to continue, FrancsJeux was preparing to draw the curtain on an editorial experience spanning almost 7 years. With regret but without bitterness.
Today, the closure of the site is no longer relevant. FrancsJeux will live. It will continue to cover daily, week after week, news from the international sports movement, its institutions, its actors and its events. It will continue its information mission, in French, committed to analyzing its issues and deciphering its evolution.
Everything happened really fast. As soon as the “last lap before the end” was announced, there were numerous reactions in the Olympic world. They came from France, Switzerland, Belgium, the United States, Japan, Great Britain... Some expressed their regret at seeing the French-speaking site leave the media landscape. Others have expressed their willingness to support us in finding a solution to prevent such a scenario.
In Lausanne, at the Forum of International Federations, several major players in the Olympic movement took the initiative to organize the mobilization. Michel Filliau, advisor to the general secretary of FIBA, Jacques Fontaine, the president of World Squash, Claude Azema, his counterpart from the World Confederation of Bowling Sports, were among the most active. Without them, nothing would have been possible.
Several options were studied. One of them quickly proved to be the most relevant. It results in a strategic and commercial rapprochement between FrancsJeux and Olbia Conseil, led by Thomas Remoleur and Benjamin Carlier. The Parisian agency is committed to our side, particularly on a financial level. She assumes the risk. The two entities will be associated in a common project. It should guarantee not only the survival of the site, but above all its sustainability and its future during the next Olympiad.
The worst has been avoided, but the main thing remains to come: the realization of the numerous proposals for support expressed within the international sports movement since Monday October 28. A support committee is being created. Several public and private actors have already assured us of their participation.
Less than 5 years before the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, FrancsJeux needs to gain even more breath and muscle to play a major role in preparing for the event. He needs resources.
Without wanting it, and without having anticipated it, FrancsJeux revealed over the last 10 days the strength and solidarity of the sporting Francophonie. Today, several of its actors express their satisfaction at seeing the adventure continue until the end of the current Olympiad, then during the next one.
Tony Estanguet, the president of Paris 2024, confides: “ I am very happy that a media like FrancsJeux continues to exist and to treat, with the same concern for independence and precision, all the news linked to the international sports movement. At a time when France is preparing to host the Summer Games in Paris in 2024 after a century of waiting, it is essential that a French-speaking media, a reference on Olympic and Paralympic subjects, can contribute to the development of the French-speaking world on the international sports scene. The plurality and diversity of opinion in the press, whether paper or web, is a wealth that we must encourage."
Same satisfaction for Jacques Fontaine, the president of World Squash, mobilized from the first day for the survival of the site: “ In my capacity as French president of an international federation, I can only be delighted that the only French-speaking electronic media dealing with international sport can continue its mission. »
Claude Azema, president of the World Bowls Confederation, expresses the same relief to see the adventure continue: “ I am doubly happy that the initiative we took urgently last week at the Forum of International Federations in Lausanne has aroused so much interest and led so quickly to an encouraging first result. I am ready to continue the momentum to ensure the future of FrancsJeux"
For Valérie Fourneyron, the former French Minister of Sports, now president of the International Anti-Doping Control Agency, the site must maintain its place in the media universe: “ FrancsJeux occupies a special place in informing the French-speaking community of international sports news. President of an international organization, the ACI, I can attest to the relevance of such media at a time when France will be at the heart of the next Olympics."
Denis Masseglia, the president of the French Olympic committee, is also among the personalities who very early on expressed their desire to support FrancsJeux in its search for a lasting solution: “ As president of the CNOSF and secretary general of the French-speaking Association of National Olympic Committees (AFCNO), I fully rejoice that FrancsJeux continues his story. Its presence in the world of international sport and the Olympics is important for the influence of the French language. »
Bernard Giudicelli, the president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), also joined the mobilization of institutional actors: “ In my capacity as president of the FFT and vice-president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), I reiterate the attachment of the tennis world to FrancsJeux and I am delighted that a vast mobilization is underway to enable him to continue to inform us professionally on the issues and news from the international and French-speaking Olympic world. »
The announced disappearance of the site did not only alert the sports movement. The private sector is also showing its support. For Philippe Robert, the president of Be Sport, the social platform for the sporting world, now involved alongside the CNOSF, “ FrancJeux is a quality media on a major subject, a real tool for promoting France internationally and for all its companies. French sportstech companies obviously have every interest in participating in the continuity of this project. »
Same support from Gaëlle Doublet, the president of the Doublet company, the historic northern company present at the Games for several Olympics: “ International development is a central issue for many sports companies in France. The existence of a French-speaking media specialist in the international sports movement contributes to this. »
Anthony Bloch, the managing director of Bloch Consulting, a recruitment and HR solutions firm for sports business, expresses the same satisfaction at seeing the adventure continue: “ We are delighted to see this essential link continue between women and men of French-speaking culture involved in the international sports movement. »
The closure is not for tomorrow. The flame still burns.
