“Nice, a sports city” is more than just a slogan for its mayor Christian Estrosi, a former high-level international athlete. It is a true credo for someone who is always at the starting line in foot races, as this has always been his trademark since his early days in politics as the sports delegate for Jacques Médecin.
It is also an image choice because there are no major sporting events without Nice putting itself forward as a candidate: Although the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics did not achieve its goal, the World Figure Skating Championships, the Games of La Francophonie, and the European Masters Games this fall (1st to 11th October 2015) have allowed and continue to allow Nice to make its mark on international calendars and offer it varying levels of visibility.
It is also an economic model through unconditional support (often generous in subsidies) for major events such as the Nice-Cannes marathon, the Tennis Open, the Triathlon, and others that serve to boost tourism-related revenue (hotels, restaurants, conferences…) through a massive presence, during these occasions, of athletes and companions from all walks of life.
Then, there’s everyday sports, both a tool for cohesion and social promotion, with significant investments to equip the city and its neighborhoods with facilities for a myriad of clubs and their young participants to whom the city reimburses, in whole or in part, the cost of their sports license. A fortunate initiative.
The situation becomes slightly more complicated at the intermediate level, between top-level and recreational activities, where clubs that are simultaneously amateur for basic work and professional due to the presence of players or athletes who make it their exclusive or prevalent activity are situated.
These are the so-called major sports clubs, except for football, which remains a special case. They are the recipients of the majority share of the municipal pie (€9.119M), in addition to the use of dedicated sports facilities.
If one were to analyze these clubs’ financial statements (normally kept as secret as the Fatima miracle), it would be apparent that without municipal aid, some would be forced to close down or others would have to drastically reduce their ambitions. Few public revenues (only hockey surpasses 1,000 spectators), often absent marketing, and weak sponsorship (only rugby has entered the Allianz project) make the city, in fact, the majority shareholder of these clubs and, thereby, the “boss” of sports in Nice.
Nothing wrong with that, quite the opposite. Moreover, the Municipal Council votes each year (normally unanimously) for the proposed budget, and that’s great. This happened again on December 19th confirming last year’s budget.
However, given the importance of this budget, it would be interesting to know the decision-making process, the allocation criteria, and the control process for the use of these subsidies (commonly referred to as objective agreements).
In short, what is the pathway for analysis, validation, and proposal, what are the measurement parameters, evaluation and/or modifications: In short, how is the relevancy of expenses checked against the objectives. Nothing inquisitorial, just an understanding of the modalities of public money allocation and its use.
With more transparency, we could avoid the perennial bad-mouthing and usual suspicions of cronyism and favoritism. With the publication of these decisions, we would avoid misunderstandings.
Because, sometimes, if we only compare the numbers, it is hard to understand why club A receives so much while club B receives a bit more, and a myriad of club C receives much less.
Since “evil be to him who evil thinks,” knowing “why?” often prevents thinking “because…” And finally, when it comes to public money, transparency should not be an obligation but indeed a duty.
Here are the 2015 subsidies (in thousands of euros) over 100,000 euros awarded to clubs representing the most well-known or popular sports disciplines:
Cavigal Nice Basketball: in 2015 600 / 700 in 2014
Cavigal Handball: 420 / 420
Nice Hockey Côte d’Azur: 310 / 210
Nice Volleyball: 600 / 600
Stade Niçois – Rugby: 470 / 470
OGCN Handball: 720 / 600
ONN: 750 / 820
OGCN Football: 1,315 / 1,315
Multi-sport clubs and disciplines other than the aforementioned
ASBTP: 235
ASPTT: 195
Nice Côte d’Azur Athletics: 260
GSEM: 255
Tennis Club Giordan: 100
Azur Sports Organization: 163
