Budgetary cold snap on the pitches and in the Toulouse sports halls. Thursday, November 28 in the municipal council, the Toulouse town hall must vote for a 20% reduction in subsidies allocated to sports associations and clubs, professional or not. The decision is motivated by the expected impact of the finance bill for 2025 and in particular the reduction announced by the government in grants to communities. This represents “25 million euros less in the city’s coffers”, according to the mayor (various right), Jean-Luc Moudenc.
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For his finance assistant, Sacha Briand, the measures taken must lead to “a freeze and not a drop” subsidies. “All sectors are impacted, so clubs will also have to make efforts,” explains the elected official, adding that“Depending on future government decisions and the situation of the various clubs, we will reassess the situation in the middle of next year ».
Within the 140 structures concerned, which benefited this year from some 2.7 million euros in subsidies, the announcement was received with surprise, after a letter sent on November 22 by the municipality. For Christian Faur, the president of Toulouse Métropole Basket (TMB), this will represent a drop of 80,000 euros. Her team, which occupies first place in the women’s second division ranking, “play the climb and that risks pulling the rug out from under us”he comments in La Dépêche du Midi.
“A scandalous decision”
Same reaction from Rémi Chambelin to the Mondethe president of Toulouse Féminin Handball (TFH), and its 400 members, for whom “ It’s a scandalous decision.” “The town hall barely loses 25 million out of 1 billion in budget and makes us, a small structure, pay, a reduction of 20%, or 20,000 euros,” he laments.
The situation appears all the more complicated to him as the club’s first team, which now plays in Nationale 1, the third division, can no longer ” sell » matches to institutional partners, after losing his professional status. “The situation is very serious, apart from increasing the price of licenses, we do not have many solutions,” Mr. Chamberlin advances.
In the myriad of small clubs or associations, concern is growing. Especially since in Toulouse these subsidies are paid in two installments: 80% from the vote, the remaining 20% during the following year. During a period of construction of forecast budgets, club presidents or association leaders were due to meet on Thursday, November 28.
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