Paris (AFP)
Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu on Tuesday demanded more health guarantees for the trips of the Blues to Ireland and England in the Six Nations Tournament (February 6-March 20), now the first match against Italy.
"The first match against Italy (in Rome, February 6, Editor's note) should not be a problem. The next two trips, against Ireland (February 14) and England (March 13), there, we need to have the necessary guarantees from the teams opposite to be sure of what we are doing, in human and financial terms, to allow our national teams to be nickel. We expect the same from the other teams ", explained the minister on the sidelines of the ephemeral Grand Palais, a temporary building that will host two events of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Tuesday morning, a technical meeting took place between the supervisory ministry and the FFR to discuss the organization and the health protocol envisaged for the 2021 Tournament.
"We maintain the first match. On the other hand, against Ireland and England, it is absolutely necessary that we obtain the necessary guarantees," said the minister again the day after the postponement of the European rugby cups.
"We must be able to provide proof that other nations in terms of health respect the same requirement in terms of precaution," she added.
On Monday, the European rugby cups were suspended "at least until the beginning of February" due to the health situation, their organizer announced, after the decision of the French government to ask the Top 14 clubs "to postpone their participation. "to these competitions, due to the very rapid expansion in the UK of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus.
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