He takes action. Dissatisfied with the retirement rights granted to former high-level athletes, the “French Champions” collective decided to publicly challenge Emmanuel Macron. “While a pension reform thought in 2011, particularly favorable (and that’s good!) has been put in place for generations after 2012, high-level athletes from previous decades will not benefit from a pension complete, even when working up to the maximum legal retirement age of 67,” he said in a press release.
The collective, which announces that it represents 35,000 high-level French athletes before 2012, protests against a “difference in treatment”. “For the post-2012 generations, the State is offering 16 to 32 quarters free of charge, while it is forcing those before 2012 to buy theirs back, without any gratuity,” he criticizes. Worse, older generations of athletes are offered to buy back only 12 quarters when much more is missing, due to their very intensive and restrictive sporting practice! Why such a difference in treatment? Why this double punishment?”
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To make things happen, the movement chose to address the President of the Republic directly. “Because our Minister of Sports does not have the means to meet our expectations, we launch a solemn appeal to Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic, so that he arbitrates and repairs this inequity of treatment and real injustice,” said he said in his press release.
Founded in April 2023 by Philippe Candeloro (double medalist in figure skating), Pascal Eouzan (four-time world champion in tumbling), Cathy Fleury (Olympic judo champion), Robert Leroux (Olympic vice-champion in fencing), Patrice Martin ( twelve times world water skiing champion) and Marie-Claire Restoux (Olympic judo champion), the collective “French Champions” would have more than 1,000 international medals.