Marco Foyot, in the foreground, tries this year to win a seventh title, a record.

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M. Ceilles / 20 Minutes

  • The Marseillaise à pétanque, a famous boules tournament, started this weekend in Marseille despite the threat of Covid-19. 

  • Wearing a mask is mandatory, except during games, this physical practice effectively excludes the obligation to wear a mask. 

  • The tournament brings together amateur players as champions for a good time to “live together”, according to tournament president Pierre Guille. 

Clappings of balls, Ricard, sun and the joy of being together for a world the Marseillaise with masked pétanque.

The 2020 edition of the famous pétanque tournament began this weekend in Marseille despite the threat of Covid-19, and boules players have invested in numbers in the dozens of courts set up for the occasion throughout the city.

Even if Borély Park remains its epicenter.

For this edition, 2,656 teams are at the rendezvous, against some 4,500, usually.

And it is already a great achievement to have managed to maintain this tournament, which has become legendary since its first edition in 1962.

“With the start of deconfinement, we had great hopes of being able to do this edition.

Since then we have been working closely with the prefecture on the health security of the event, and until the last moment we were not certain that it would be feasible.

In the end, things are going well, 80 to 90% of people wear the mask, we were right to trust the French.

Marseille and the south of France have been empty of events since the beginning of the summer, so this world championship la Marseillaise represents great hope, ”says Pierre Guille, president of the Mondial la Marseillaise.

Learning to live with the virus

Wearing a mask is compulsory everywhere around the grounds, but the prefecture has authorized its non-wearing during games of pétanque, a physical activity which in fact excludes the obligation to wear a mask.

To minimize the risks, the organizers have also extended the withdrawals of game cards over time, and the women's and youth tournaments have already taken place at the start of the weekend, back to school requires.

# MLM2020: The @MondialLaMars à Pétanque is open!

🥳🤩 pic.twitter.com/a2t5rgsW8R

- La Marseillaise (@lamarsweb) August 30, 2020

“It's still a bit special this year, we have a lot less foreigners like the Belgians and the Germans.

But we understand that we have to learn to live with the presence of this virus, so it was important to be able to offer this moment of living together which is fully in the values ​​of the newspaper ”, adds on the side of the organization while the newspaper

La Marseillaise

was placed in liquidation at the beginning of the summer.

"It's the ball festival, it's legendary"

A moment of conviviality that Franck, the uncle with 17 participations, Laurent, the dad and his two participations, and Maxence, the son for whom it is a first, would not have missed for the world.

They come from Ardèche, Ain and Savoie.

And it doesn't matter if this edition takes place at the end of summer, unlike in other years.

“If you like boules, you organize yourself to be there.

The Marseillaise is the feast of the balls, it's mythical, ”they say.

And too bad if they got knocked out in the first round for the first time.

“You know when you're going down to Marseille, but you never know when you're going back up.

There are people from all walks of life, we talk to lots of people.

In the evening it's bouillabaisse, life is what ”, profit the three friends.

Franck, Maxence and Laurent take advantage of the World Cup despite their defeat in the first round.

- Adrien Max / 20 Minutes

And they even received as a gift the t-shirt of Marco Foyot, tied record holder for the number of victories at La Marseillaise with six trophies to his credit.

This year he is trying to become the only player to win a seventh trophy.

"This is also the Marseillaise, champions who sometimes face players who admire them", slips Pierre Guille.

The final is to be held on Wednesday evening.

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  • Petanque

  • Society

  • Marseilles

  • Sport

  • Covid 19