Pinned by the report of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into sports federations, the Minister of National Education Amélie Oudéa-Castéra opted for a surprising justification during her hearing.
The indefensible value judgment. Tuesday January 23, a parliamentary report on the French tennis federation (FFT) will be published in which the Minister of National Education, Youth, Sports and the Olympic Games is widely blamed. This report from the parliamentary commission of inquiry chaired by Béatrice Bellamy (Horizons) and consulted by The world targets in particular the remuneration of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra when she was at the head of French tennis. If the latter judges that the subject remains “passion” and “investment” in all the missions entrusted to it, the line of defense adopted to try to justify itself appears relatively clumsy, particularly in these times of inflation and of grumbling from the agricultural world, one of whose demands concerns the level of wages.
500,000 euros annually including a bonus of 100,000 euros
While the median standard of living of the French population stood at 23,160 euros net per year in mainland France in 2021 according to INSEE, the minister received 500,000 euros gross per year, including a bonus of 100,000 euros on target. Too high ? Not really if we are to believe the words of the main person concerned before the parliamentary commission of inquiry, on November 16, 2023: “If I compare my current remuneration to the volume of hours that I put in each week, while working days, nights, weekends, I’m not paid well. It doesn’t matter, I have a fundamental mission at an important moment for the country. And I’m passionate about what I do.” She also explained that she had divided her salary by three after leaving Carrefour (1.4 million euros per year).
The minister was especially called to order for the indifference she showed in 2022. Indeed, “the general inspection had called for reconsideration of the level of remuneration of the ten main executives of the FFT”. The predecessor of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra,Jean-François Vilotte then received 414,325 euros gross per year. The latter did not see her salary drop once appointed, but increase by more than 86,000 euros. What raises questions about the reaction and the attempt to defend the minister before the parliamentary commission of inquiry.