Emmanuel Macron joins the fray. Anxious to preserve his promises six months after the Paris Olympics, the President of the Republic rallied this Wednesday, January 22, to the revolt of the sports movement against the government’s desire to drastically cut the sports budget.
Extensively criticized for several days by a number of players in the world of sport, including judoka Teddy Riner and swimmer Léon Marchand, the government’s decision to cut even more from a budget already considered starving, takes a more political turn.
In a statement to The TeamPresident Macron agrees with the athletes, more than 400 of whom signed a column published in the sports daily to protest against the reduction in the budget of the Ministry of Sports. “Since 2017, I have ensured that the sports budget increases every year,” underlines the head of state. “We must keep our commitments and provide the means for our athletes and so that the legacy of the Games benefits everyone,” he adds as the sporting world is due to meet in the evening at the headquarters of the French Olympic and Sports Committee. (CNOSF) for happy new year wishes in the presence of the Minister of Sports Marie Barsacq.
“It’s incomprehensible”
This position by the president further spreads the shock wave that has been sweeping through the world of sport since January 16. That day, the government tried, without success, to pass an amendment in the Senate to reduce by 34 million euros a budget already cut by around a hundred million euros. A blow which increased the sports budget from almost 900 million euros in 2024 to almost 600 million euros.
The president of the CNOSF David Lappartient also wrote to the Prime Minister to be offended by this drastic cut. “With this new planer proposal, the drop in ‘Sport’ credits would reach 33%. It’s incomprehensible,” writes David Lappartient in a letter dated January 20, of which AFP obtained a copy, and in which he asks the government to review its position on the 34 million euro amendment.
The Senate heard the cry for help by rejecting this amendment while drawing 80 million euros from the universal national service (SNU) budget to pay it back to Sports. But this attempt, for a reduction “by the thickness of a pen stroke in the overall budget” of the State according to a framework of the French sports movement, triggered a wave of criticism from French sports leaders, athletes from all walks of life and sports stars.
“They attack the weakest”
In parallel with the article published in The Teamanother bringing together more than 5,000 personalities from the world of sport was published by The Parisianthus adding to the concert of criticism.
But the battle does not seem simple for the sports movement. Government spokesperson Sophie Primas in fact estimated on Wednesday that this planing was “legitimate” in order to return to “a reasonable level”, explaining that budgets for sport had been increased due to the Paris Olympics. Sports Minister Marie Barsacq, in charge of legacy within the Paris Olympics Organizing Committee, finds herself in a difficult position. After presenting the amendment that started it all, she sided with her detractors by describing this proposal as “really disproportionate”, in an interview on Tuesday with Ouest-France.
“The people at Bercy are totally disconnected from the real world, they don’t realize it and, what’s more, they always attack the weakest,” said a French sports leader. It is now up to the joint committee – the body within which deputies and senators will try to find a compromise on the budget – to decide.