Around two and a half years before the Summer Games in Paris, the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) wants to make sport a “big national issue”. This emerges from the proposals announced on Friday for the upcoming presidential election in the country.
The committee’s suggestions will be sent to the candidates that CNOSF plans to receive on March 17th. CNOSF President Brigitte Henriques said they had already received “good feedback from the candidates.” It is not yet known who will ultimately come to present their respective sports program.
“We want to change the place of sport in society,” said Henriques, adding that sport should become a “big national issue”. One of the 20 suggestions is to strengthen volunteer work.
An estimated 34 million people in France play sports, including clubs (18 million) and recreational athletes such as joggers and swimmers. The goal of increasing this number by three million by 2024 had already been announced when the games were awarded in 2017.
President Emmanuel Macron, who is standing for re-election, has repeatedly emphasized his intention to make “France a sporting nation”.