Since March 2020, for amateur sports clubs, daily life has been more like a rugged ultra-trail than a health walk. After the season interrupted in 2020 – during the outbreak of the pandemic linked to Covid-19 -, the canceled meetings, the resurgence of Covid cases and the introduction of the health pass in the summer of 2021, a new test awaits them. .
With the adoption by Parliament, Sunday, January 16, of the text establishing a vaccination pass, the clubs are once again preparing to adapt their practices. From now on, to have access to sports arenas, whether you are a practitioner or a spectator, a negative test will no longer be enough, you will have to have been vaccinated (in certain cases, a certificate of recovery following contamination may be presented) . The measure will only apply from the age of 16, minors aged 12 to 15 remaining subject to the health pass.
This new provision adds a layer to the regulatory mille-feuille that the holding of a competition – or training – has become in times of Covid-19. “Of course, it adds stress, summarizes Fabrice Canet, president of the Saint-Charles basketball club, in Charenton-le-Pont (Val-de-Marne), interviewed before the adoption of the final version of the text. Afterwards, we have been in crisis management, on a daily basis, for almost two years, so one measure more or less… ”
At the head of an association with 500 members and nineteen teams, he learned to cope, like all of his colleagues, in all sports. “For the clubs, the control of the health pass was already a real headache, so I don’t think it will be much different. »
“We are not given any means to apply the controls”
“In terms of organization, whether it’s checking the health pass or the vaccination pass, it’s not going to change anything., corroborates Olivier Gradel, president of Olympique Marcquois rugby (North). We already applied, upstream of training, a systematic control of health passes for practitioners, staff, parents and accompanying persons. » His Federal 1 club (the fourth national division) has instructed an “administrative referent” – a volunteer or an employee of the club depending on the day – to carry out the checks.
The latter become difficult as soon as the seniors play at home, in front of 1,000 to 2,000 people. “We had to equip ourselves with tablets [pour le contrôle des passes] in order to facilitate the flow of supporters”, breathes Mr. Gradel.
Not all clubs are created equal. Depending on their size and the means committed by the local town hall – which cannot all provide a room attendant –, control often falls to volunteers.
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