Montauban City Council suspends subsidies for the Montauban Boxe Anglaise association, which also has to leave the premises of the Jacques Chirac sports complex because of suspicions of religious missionary activity.
Montauban City Council decided at its last meeting on Monday May 30 to completely suspend the operating subsidies for the Montauban Boxee Anglaise association for the 2022-2023 season, which amounted to 26,545 euros. The club will also have to leave the premises previously made available to it for training at the Jacques Chirac sports complex in the west of the city.
The sports club is suspected of religious proselytism. “Certain behaviours of the members of this club […] violate the principle of secularism, which is described in detail in the house rules for sports facilities and states that “political, ideological and religious concerns are prohibited in all sports facilities of the city of Montauban”, explains the city council in the unanimously adopted resolution.
Speaking to France Bleu Occitanie, the mayor, Brigitte Barèges, claimed that some people were “practising prayers and chanting the Quran, asking children to identify their religion” and that women were allegedly encouraged to train in trousers instead of shorts or to keep their veils on. “I am not stigmatising the Muslim community, but I am saying that there are behaviours that have no place in a gym,” she added. The municipality asserts that it has evidence of the above facts. In particular, video recordings.
The decision to suspend the subsidies of the Montauban Boxe Anglaise was also made on suspicion of illegal trading in membership cards. He allegedly allowed individuals to enter the sports hall without having a pass issued in their name. Some behaviours “do not respect the conditions of use of the boxing hall located in the Palais des Sports Jacques Chirac (individual access cards that are frequently exchanged)”, the city administration adds in its decision. A new club for English boxing (fights fought only with fists) is to be created in the city next school year.
The Montauban Boxe Anglaise club has not commented on the issue via its social networks. The only statements concern the announcement of the end of training, dated May 20, and the thanks to all members.
In an email to the radio station France Bleu on Wednesday June 1, Lucie Pittana, president of the English boxing club of Montauban, spoke of “serious allegations” and denied the facts. She concluded by saying: “We are consulting on how to proceed”.Le Journal toulousain