MP Cédric Roussel, along with about sixty majority MPs, submitted a bill at the end of July aiming to make France a true sporting nation.
According to Cédric Roussel, “this text is a fundamental first step towards the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. It must be accompanied by financial and social measures within the framework of the Budget Bill and the Social Security Financing Bill for 2020.”
This proposed law is the result of a broad co-construction. Last December, Cédric Roussel and his colleagues François Cormier-Bouligeon and Belkhir Belhaddad initiated “The Parliament of Sport” within the National Assembly. This initiative allowed the organization of four thematic conferences:
• Vision of sport by 2030
• Economy of sport
• Sport and Health
• Governance of federations and democratization of practices
These events gathered more than a thousand stakeholders at the National Assembly, in an unprecedented exercise of democracy. They complement the numerous hearings conducted by the “Sport” and “Economy of Sport” study groups since the beginning of the term.
The proposals that emerged from all these exchanges led to the development of a bill comprising different facets such as: the development of sport for all, the governance of federations, the renewal of sports funding models, and the development of sport-health.
As highlighted by Cédric Roussel, MP for Alpes-Maritimes: “The hosting of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris is an exceptional lever to anchor sport at the heart of French society, notably in Nice. The legacy of the Games is being built now, and that is indeed the objective of this bill: to give sport the means to express its many potentials.”
Philippe Manassero, President of the CDOS O6, expresses shortcomings that the law does not address. “This proposed law calls for an increase in the number of French people engaging in regular physical and sports activities, but I see no government direction regarding the approach to currently saturated facilities. Indeed, facilities are occupied, even over-occupied, so it’s important, if we want to increase memberships, to have a true Marshall Plan for facilities: gyms, outdoor fields, swimming pools, etc…”
The President continues by discussing the budget envelope for sport: “it seems to me today, if we want to have this strategy of engagement for a sporting nation with the Paris 2024 Olympics in the background, the sports budget of the French nation must be increased. This is the number one condition for the project’s success. Sports associations need help, need more equipment, more educators, more consideration. That is why the sports budget must be a driving force for the government to succeed in this transformation and to create a true sporting nation in France.”
