The Minister of Sports called on Mouv’ on Wednesday to preserve “the framework of secularism” on football fields and to lead a “fight for the inclusion” of transgender people in sport. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has confirmed the offer of 400,000 tickets for the 2024 Olympics at a popular ticket office.
“There is a difficulty on the ground to preserve this framework of secularism. So it was important for this federation to be able to spread this message to the clubs”, justified Wednesday, April 5 on Mouv ‘the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, after the decision of the French Football Federation not to authorize the interruption of matches to allow Muslim players to break the fast. Match interruptions related to breaking the fast, in the evening, “do not respect the provisions of the statutes of the FFF”, according to the French authority. A position that is debated and provokes criticism while this kind of break is taking place in the United Kingdom.
Ramadan and football: we must find “pragmatic solutions”
“In France, we have a regime that is different from the one that prevails, especially in the United Kingdom. We have a base of secularism, which is there to really preserve everyone’s religious convictions and to avoid behaviors of a proselytizing nature”, replied the Minister of Sports. If the FFF reminded the referees of the rules, it is because“There is a difficulty on the ground in preserving this framework of secularism. So it was important for this federation to be able to spread this message to the clubs”. However it is necessary “to manage to ensure that pragmatic solutions can be found to break the fast when one is a Muslim. By using half-time, by using the various stoppages in play, breaks to be able to rehydrate or eat something”she continued.
Inclusion of transgender people: they must “feel good”
“It is a question which is difficult, which is complex, which is the subject of regulations that are both evolving and different from one federation to another”acknowledged the Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as the International Athletics Federation decided to exclude transgender athletes from the female category, which it intends “protect”. The minister wants to carry out all the same “this fight for inclusion”because “I want transgender people to feel good about exercising, whether they are amateurs or professionals.”
“We will also have with the Rugby World Cup, an important moment since with the leaders of the French Rugby Federation, we are going to organize a major event which will include, which will also welcome transgender people to honor this rugby practice“. She also announces a “event for the promotion of LGBT rights on the horizon of May with this vision of a generous sport that does good to society as a whole”.
Youth sports: “Find an offer that is fun”
It’s necessary “find an offer that is fun, that really entertains them, that gives them a feeling of well-being and release”, recognized Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, on the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic week organized in particular in schools to encourage young people to play sports. France is 119ᵉ out of 146 countries in the WHO world ranking on the physical activity of adolescents. “There is a dropout that is expressed, which is quite strong, especially among young teenagers, because the relationship to the body is changing”she explained.
To develop sport at school, the minister is counting on “30 minutes of daily physical activity that we deploy with primary school teachers”she defended. “And then there are the 2 extra hours of sport for college students, which is an experiment that we started this year, which will ramp up with sports clubs (…) today, we have 170 colleges which are embarked on the process. We would like to aim for around 700 at the start of the next school year to be sure that our college students, at a moment which is really decisive, can have a reinforced offer in addition to EPS”.
>> What is the assessment of the operation “30 minutes of sport per day at school”, generalized since the start of the school year?
She hears “to highlight our French team of 30 minutes of physical activity at school which is made up of 153 very high level athletes who are in the race to participate in the Olympic and Paralympic Games“. These ambassadors “will come to all the schools in the area and assist the school teachers” in order to “make these 30 minutes of daily physical activity super concrete and super embodied in all territories”detailed Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
Sport and women: “More sports lessons for young mothers”
“At the beginning of March, I launched a workshop to work on all the levers and really try to have both a promotion of the offer of the federations so that there are more sports lessons that are good designed for mothers when they have just had a child”, explained Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. We could “have with the platform of the first 1,000 days [qui distille des conseils pour les nouveaux parents]a good support on the adapted physical activity from which they can benefit, but also to work on the locker rooms”.
“We know that in sports clubs, it’s often something that prevents women from feeling good, feeling comfortable. So we also want to be able to act on this dimension (…) so we wants to really act on all stages of life for women and also for our champions, so that they are inspiring”insisted Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. “We want to show more women’s sport on television and also support young champion mothers in their motherhood so that they can fully live their passion and continue to inspire all women”.
Popular ticket office at the Olympics: we will “offer a ticket to 400,000 people”
“We are announcing this week the launch of our popular ticket office which will allow the State to offer a ticket for the Olympic Games to 400,000 people, a large part for our youth, about 260,000, including 200,000 places for our school audiences, but also for volunteers in the sports movement, people with disabilities“, detailed the Minister of Sports, confirming an announcement by Emmanuel Macron. This will also concern “a number of the teams involved in the organization of the Games to recognize and reward them.”
“So our youth, you see that it is preponderant since there are 260,000 young people among these 400,000”with particular attention to Seine-Saint-Denis, because “we really want to embark on this territory of Seine-Saint-Denis, which today concentrates 80% of public investment”so that he “can experience the Games to the full and benefit from a wealth of positive economic, social and environmental benefits on their territory”.
>> Are the tickets for the Paris Olympics really “not more expensive” than those for the London Games in 2012?
“These are tickets that will be offered hand in hand from the spring of 2024 and which will meet different objectives. First, educational programs carried out at the heart of the school, so the tickets will reward the most committed establishments “specified Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, in particular through “the Generation 2024 program, which rewards establishments that are most committed to this dynamic of promoting sport (…) IThere will also be a fringe of students. And then also young people who are followed within the framework of Childhood Social Assistance, because we also want to have this action towards the most disadvantaged audiences.