Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, sports competitions have stopped. Unable to live their passion, many athletes have decided to put their notoriety to work to fight against the virus too. In the clubs, supporters also mobilize to try to help the caregivers by raising funds. France 24 offers you a tour of France of these initiatives.
- Raynald Denoueix French Champion Medal
The former Nantes coach announced on April 3 that he was auctioning off his 2001 French medal for the benefit of caregivers who are fighting coronavirus.
The initiative started with Cyril Dumoulin, goalkeeper of the French handball team and HBC Nantes, who took advantage of the start of his forties to put his business in order. He started on March 26 to offer training or competition outfits that he no longer uses at auction on social networks for the benefit of the medical staff of the city's CHU.
Other sportsmen followed him such as the footballers Eugénie Le Sommer and Mickaël Landreau, the handball player Luka Karabatic, the basketball player Nicolas Batum or the cyclist Bryan Coquard.
Raynald Denoueix was also won over by this project and offered his medal. The supporters were touched by his gesture and organized a pot so that he could keep it. Result, they offered a total of more than 12,600 euros to give him his reward.
Because it is Nantes, because we are Nantes, for this legend, for our history, for the GAME, let's all participate so that the medal of champion of France 2001 remains on the desk of Raynald Denoueix. And the money will go to the hospital staff! Https: //t.co/VoasRlz3cg
- Alexis Vergereau (@Alexis_Vrg) April 4, 2020- Champions get their hands on the wallet
Personally, other champions also drew on their savings. From the start of the confinement, on March 15, footballer Paul Pogba launched on his birthday a fundraiser against the pandemic, promising to donate at least 30,000 euros. He has so far collected just over 7,000 euros.
His teammate in the French team, Kylian Mbappé, also made a substantial donation to the Abbé Pierre association to support the homeless who cannot be confined. The amount has not been disclosed.
Basketball player Rudy Gobert, one of the first French athletes to contract the disease, also announced that he would donate nearly $ 500,000. This sum will be devoted to the employees of his Utah Jazz team currently on technical unemployment, but also to patients affected by the virus in Utah and to the French health services.
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The most fragile are not confined. Let's not forget them. Bravo et force @fondationabbepierre
A post shared by Kylian Mbappé (@ k.mbappe) on Mar 27, 2020 at 6:53 am PDT
- All in white
Nearly 200 sports personalities launched, on April 7, a movement entitled "Tous en blanc" to "unite and mobilize all of French sports to help health personnel".
Athletes call, via a website, to offer help or make a donation to fight the pandemic alongside caregivers. Kayaker Tony Estanguet, boxer Sarah Ourahmoune and Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu have already participated in this initiative.
As an athlete, let's mobilize to support the nursing staff! Join the #TousenBlanc movement and make a donation for the Fondation de France at https://t.co/HeOyLqt3i0@melrobertmichon @PineauAllison it's up to you 😉
# BougezChezVous # TousenBlanc pic.twitter.com/eNhoDXXU59
- The PSG donation platform
The club of the capital and defending champion of France has decided to bring together its community to collect a maximum of donations for the 100,000 caregivers of the AP-HP in Paris and Ile-de-France.
The funds collected will be "devoted to the priority needs of caregivers - accommodation and transport, delivery of meals, equipment of rest rooms, communication equipment ...", we read in a press release. In this period of crisis, PSG also supports the volunteers of Secours Populaire and Action Against Hunger.
✊❤️💙
@PSG_inside and @FondationPSG continue their mobilization and launch a call for donation platform # PSGengaged
The Club brings its community together to help the most vulnerable caregivers and populations
To make a donation ➡️ https://t.co/9efkHIx9A6
- Distribution of food by PSG Ultras
Supporters of the Parisian club are also mobilizing. The members of the Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP) participate in the delivery of foodstuffs to hospitals in the capital, the region and even throughout France. PSG fans mainly bring caregivers meals, but also gowns or masks.
Delivery of pastries and food to Les Murets Hospital Center (La Queue En Brie) #SoutienAuxSoignants #EnsemblesRestonsChezNous # FuckCOVID19 pic.twitter.com/N1AdM4nCMX
- Collectif Ultras Paris (@Co_Ultras_Paris) April 6, 2020- A donation from Olympique de Marseille to the AP-HM
In Marseille, the club of Marseille is not to be outdone. OM gave a check for 50,000 euros to the Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Marseille.
The players are also made aware. Japanese defender Hiroki Sakai, confined to Marseille with his family, personally gave 20,000 euros. "I thought about what I could do, I wanted to make this donation to help people who are fighting against the coronavirus," he explained in a video recorded for hospital staff, as reported by La Provence. "I'm not a superstar like Neymar, I don't know if it's enough or not, but I want to help as much as I can."
With his friend the chef Ippei Uemura, Hiroki Sakai also donated 10,000 euros to the Gourméditerranée association, which voluntarily prepares meals for caregivers at the AP-HM, but also for the association of the paralyzed in France or the military hospital of Laveran.
We would like to warmly thank Olympique de Marseille for their donation of € 50,000 to the AP-HM. Hiroki SAKAI followed the initiative of the club by giving yesterday through his friend, the chef Ippei UEMURA of the TABI restaurant, a check for € 20,000 to Sylvia BRETON, Deputy DG ... pic.twitter.com/Yq2UfZUqkQ
- AP-HM - University Hospitals of Marseille (@aphm_actu) April 8, 2020- The Racing Club de Strasbourg and Femmes de Foot collect more than 200,000 euros
In a region particularly affected by the coronavirus, the Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (RCSA) and the Association Femmes de Foot de Strasbourg have mobilized together to help all those who fight everyday against the Covid virus. 19.
According to the Actu site, they "collected more than 200,000 euros, up to 100,000 euros each".
A sum intended to "support the nursing staff of hospitals, nursing homes or even the firefighters and the SAMU of Bas-Rhin", explains the information site, "in particular by means of delivery of meal trays or donations of medical equipment. Thus, 1,000 cotton coats, funded by the RCSA, will be distributed on the territory for nurses. "
The Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace and Femmes de Foot mobilized against the Covid-19.
In total, more than 200,000 euros were spent on several actions carried out in Alsace!
Find them here⬇️https: //t.co/pbZiNTw6v0 pic.twitter.com/ARfvxYK4hq
- Success for the OL platform
Like PSG, Olympique Lyonnais has also launched its crowdfunding platform "to allow everyone to make a donation to fight the pandemic that is currently affecting our country".
The club has already made a global donation of 300,000 euros to support the rescue and assistance services of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. To this sum are added more than 150,000 euros collected, for a total goal of 500,000 euros.
We are announcing today the payment of the donations collected so far thanks to our supporters, partners and sympathizers with the structures identified as priorities in the response to the # COVID19 crisis! 👍https: //t.co/JP1xG7Xb3J
- Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) April 8, 2020- A gift from the Chinese owner of AJ Auxerre
The AJ Auxerre club, currently in Ligue 2, announced in a statement that its owner, the Chinese James Zhou, has decided to "donate 100,000 protective masks, 20,000 screening tests and 3,000 pieces of clothing. protection "which" will be made available by AJA to the Auxerrois health services via the Auxerre hospital ".
"Whether facing the public, employees or partners, the company must constantly assume its responsibility. We will continuously make efforts to protect all employees of AJA and the city of Auxerre, while respecting instructions from the state, in order to win the war against the Covid-19 ", said the majority shareholder of the Burgundian club.
🥼 Today, around 500 protective clothing has been delivered to Auxerre hospital 🚛🏥
💙 #MerciJames and #MerciAuxSoignants 💙 pic.twitter.com/12DHYjsq4j
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