After a long break during confinement, the recovery was short-lived. Here is again the world of sport partly at a standstill. At least, in gymnasiums and sports halls, which are again subject to closure to fight against the spread of Covid-19. Since September 28, the measure of the Ministry of Health temporarily concerns sports facilities in areas in heightened or maximum alert. Except for professional sportsmen, the school public, as well as minors practicing in clubs.
Additional complication: since October 17, the curfew has prohibited amateur athletes from going out between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. in 16 departments, 38 other departments being now affected by this measure since Friday, October 23 at midnight.
The positions may vary from case to case, even if it means making the situation all the more illegible. In Rennes, considering that the sports halls did not present any particular danger, the administrative court authorized them to remain open despite the prefectural order. Conversely, the courts rejected the appeals filed in Marseille, Lille or Nice.
For the practitioners as for the clubs, the incomprehension grows. In a press release, the Sports and Gymnastics Federation of Labor has already expressed its willingness to ask “An exemption from the curfew on presentation of a certificate”. At stake: the possibility of allowing for the entire population “A moment of pleasure, of social bond, of preserving one’s health and emancipation in a context of such trying crisis”.
The threat of permanent closure for 61% of businesses
In this climate of uncertainty, the sports movement expects since September an average fall of 25% of its licensees, which were around 16.5 million in 2019. A disaster in perspective for the thousands of amateur clubs in the country, which depend in priority on the contributions of their members.
Concern also in the commercial sports leisure sector. A business organization, Union Sport & Cycle forecasts a cumulative loss of one billion euros for these structures in 2020, on the basis of a consultation with 6,321 private establishments (fitness, climbing, five-a-side football, padel, golf courses…). That is a third of turnover less compared to that of 2019.
On the one hand, there are the losses already estimated for the period from March to August (526 million euros), due in particular to the two months of confinement. On the other hand, there are those dreaded between September and December (500 million).
You have 39.82% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
