
All that for that? The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games have shed substantial light on the crucial place of sport in society. However, the French government has decided to severely attack the budget allocated to the Ministry of Sports. Under pressure from the public deficit, it has put on the table an additional reduction in resources of 34 million euros in 2025, while the planned budget already included a reduction of more than 200 million euros. The world of sport immediately rebelled, putting pressure on the amendment that was ultimately fatal. For now.
Games over
The French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) has denounced "an incomprehensible budgetary decision" as the sporting world seeks to ride the Olympic wave and keep the flame alive. "We want to bury Paris 2024. It's cowardly. It's contemptuous of sport, clubs, athletes", says Philippe Bana, president of the French Handball Federation, in L'Equipe. "If Paris 2024 were to remain an enchanted interlude, this is the path to follow, lashes out at the CNOSF in a statement. If we want this heritage to become a pillar of our society, and the appointment of Marie Barsacq is a major signal in this regard, it is urgent to correct course."
The new Minister of Sports worked on the Paris 2024 bid committee before becoming Executive Director of Impact and Legacy of the COJOP. However, given the current context, her room for maneuver appears extremely limited. "Sport was already seriously weakened as soon as the Games were over. Naively, I thought that sport was not a cost center but a profit center", lamented the legend Marie-Josée Pérec, who had set the Olympic cauldron ablaze last summer. After hammering home the importance of sport and encouraging the French to practice regular physical activity in the run-up to the Games, the French government decided to turn the page as soon as the Olympic Games were over. As if nothing had happened.
The Senate is resisting
"The Games have shown the structuring impact of sport in our lives: it is an essential tool for inclusion, public health and social cohesion. Reducing the resources allocated to sport is weakening our ability to meet these challenges., warns the CNOSF. Conversely, investing in sport means building a healthier, more united and more dynamic society. With such a sports budget for 2025, there will be no additional clubs, no accessible facilities, no reinforcement of sports supervisors. We will not be able to maintain the momentum generated by Paris 2024. The concern is all the greater in disciplines adapted to people with disabilities, which "risk losing a historic opportunity for sustainable development".
The anger was heard by the Senate, which rejected the amendment on Thursday. The senators also twisted the government's arm a little more by voting for the transfer of 80 million euros more to sport - a sum taken from the Universal National Service mission. How will professional and amateur athletes, clubs and associations be eaten once the parliamentary shuttle is over and the final budget is voted on? While waiting for the answer, the signal sent by the government is worrying: the Games have unfortunately changed nothing in the minds of political leaders, who see sport as nothing more than an adjustment variable.