The invitation is now going out on both sides. Jean-Michel Blanquer, challenged by basketball player Evan Fournier on the place of sport at school, agreed to meet him, like other athletes, to talk about it, he says in an interview with Sunday Newspaper.
“Evan Fournier used the expression ‘outstretched hand’: he meets another outstretched hand which is mine. I will also soon meet athletes – Evan Fournier if he wishes and can – to talk about it, ”said the Minister of National Education.
Fournier wants a reform of sports at school
Silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics with the Blues, Fournier had judged, in a column published on August 16 by the Huff Post, “Derisory” the place of sport at school, and called upon to “reform the French system”, saying it is ready to “welcome [Jean-Michel Blanquer] in New York (…) to continue this exchange ”. In his forum, the New York Knicks player was already responding to the minister, who had linked the success of team indoor sports to the Olympics-2020 (five medals including three gold) to the “importance” of the school system “for the the entire population but also for the elite of sport ”.
“The forum of Evan Fournier converges with what I wanted to say: thanks to the momentum of the Olympic Games (Paris-2024), we will take a new step in favor of sport at school”, judged Jean-Michel Blanquer. “It is a good debate which will make it possible to move forward, because the sporting culture is not strong enough in France”, also declared the Minister. The ball of the debate should therefore still bounce.