Quite a promotion. Six months before the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra seemed assured of retaining her position as Minister of Sports, which she has held since May 2022. She is doing even better by recovering the ministerial portfolio of education, left vacant since the appointment of Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister.
Cut out for the job?
Emmanuel Macron’s classmate at the National School of Administration (ENA), Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, 45, aspired to join the sports ministry in 2017. An experience as founder of the association “Rénovons le sport français” and a position as general director of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) later, she ended up achieving her goal.
“He’s someone who was ready for this position”analyzes Patrick Bayeux, founder of Décideurs du sport and consultant. “She has very detailed knowledge of a certain number of files, whether on the legal side or on training issues. She has a real vision of the place of sport and a capacity for fairly intense work.. She is also criticized for sometimes being too present on the ground and on all issues, like Emmanuel Macron. »
The questioning resided more on the political aspect of the position. From her first months at the head of the ministry, the former tennis champion had to face the fiasco of the organization of the Champions League final, in May 2022, where the government wrongly accused English supporters of having caused clashes around the Stade de France. “A terrible baptism of fire, seven days after my arrival”, she confided at the time.
However, his ability to be present on the political field was noticed in the following months. From the dismissal of the general director of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Claude Atcher, to the forced resignation of Bernard Laporte from the presidency of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) including the ouster of the president of the French Rugby Federation football (FFF) Noël Le Graët, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra displayed her firmness.
“In his latest interventions in the media, we feel that politics is more present, believes Patrick Bayeux. Even though she was never elected, she stands out compared to many of her predecessors. »
“She is part of this generation of politicians who, before having an opinion on everything, listen to that of others, adds Jean-Baptiste Guégan, geopolitical scientist specializing in sport. She asks questions but above all listens to the answers. » Amélie Oudéa-Castéra “knows how to decide”estimates the specialist.
A bigger horizon
From now on, the former magistrate at the Court of Auditors is in charge of national education, within a ministry of education, youth, sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. “It is part of the logic of “citizen rearmament” presented by Emmanuel Macron during his vows. Intellectually it makes sense, especially in view of the sport announced as a great national cause. analyzes Jean-Baptiste Guégan.
At a time when sedentary lifestyles are high, where questions of discrimination and the fragmentation of society are at the heart of concerns, a “great ministryvery in the spirit of the Fifth Republic, can have real weight”, believes Jean-Baptiste Guégan.
This flash promotion, however, presents the risk of seeing sports relegated to the background. Especially since Gabriel Attal said upon his arrival at Matignon his intention to go to school “an absolute priority”. “What we expect is greater interpenetration of the two ministriesestimates the geopolitical scientist. On the other hand, with the workload that it represents, it risks being complicated. With the Games, she will emerge exhausted. To see how she will be surrounded », asks the latter.
In a long interview with La Croix L’Hebdo last July, the person concerned considered the mission (of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) “very engaging”. “I accept all the implications by only being focused on the Games. I don’t make plans for the future.”she promised. “I accept the hazards, that everything is not in my hands and under my control”, she confided.
However, according to a former collaborator, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, in addition to her “undeniable leadership qualities”accepts with difficulty that “everything is not under control”. “Does she have other ambitions behind the post of Minister of Sports? I’m not in his headPatrick Bayeux philosophized a few days ago. I think she has the ability to aim higher. » An opinion visibly shared by the head of state and his prime minister.
