Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, along with nearly a hundred representatives from the French sports world, called on Sunday for gymnasiums to be re-opened in France and not to be “stigmatized” as sites for the spread of COVID-19.
The manifesto, published in the Sunday edition of the Journal du Dimanche, notes that the new fitness restrictions imposed by the expansion of the pandemic have led to the closure of gyms and swimming pools in many French cities, with the exception of school activities.
“It is not a question of denying seriousness or announcing a widespread absence of threat in these establishments, but of denouncing unfounded decisions at the health, social and economic level,” says the text, which he supported through world athletics champion Stéphane Diagana among others.
The document argues that physical activity and play are “unquestionable” and that if physical fitness protocols are followed, there is no evidence that there is a threat to do so in those places.
Paralympic athlete and president of the French Paralympic Committee, Marie-Amélie Le Fur, tennis player Alize Cornet and sports specialists have teamed up on what she describes as “deastrous” for the sector by decision of the authorities.
“We make a solemn call to the government to open up establishments and associations that host physical and sporting activities,” concludes the text, in which they also call for monetary assistance for these companies.
In France, the number of coronavirus contagions reached new records last week: the country recorded 26,896 on a Saturday, as well as 54 deaths, bringing the number of positive cases since the epidemic began to 718,873 and the death rate to 32,684.
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