The revolt expressed in the form of a press release had an immediate effect, or almost. This Thursday, the Senate massively rejected an amendment tabled a few hours earlier by the government aimed at further reducing, by 34 million euros, the budget allocated to sport in 2025, already seriously reduced. “An incomprehensible decision,” the French Paralympic Committee and the French Olympic Committee jointly lambasted in a press release this Thursday, followed by numerous federations including those of football or rugby but also big names in sports (Riner, Péréc, Marchand. ..)
The 2025 finance bill already provided for a reduction of more than 100 million euros in the budget of the Ministry of Sports (excluding exceptional credits linked to the Games), dealing a hard blow to a budget which is already struggling to reach 1 billion euros and already represented barely 0.2% of the state budget.
The executive justified these additional cuts by its desire to reduce the public deficit this year, to reach the target of 5.4% of GDP, against 6.1% expected in 2024. The senators noted that the outlook was critical for those involved in French sport, in particular local authorities, who are the primary supporters of sporting practice. The body also hoped that the legacy of the 2024 Olympic Games would become a pillar of society, emphasizing that with such a sports budget for 2025, there would be no additional clubs, no accessible equipment, no strengthening of supervisors. sportsmen. And that the momentum generated by Paris 2024 could then not be maintained.
The Senate has therefore decided to propose a windfall of 80 million additional euros for the Sports budget, taken from the budget of the Universal National Service (SNU), which the High Assembly is proposing to abolish.
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