In an open letter sent to the press, the opposition group Métropole Écologiste et Citoyenne pour des Territoires Solidaires is scandalized by the sudden and unilateral cancellation of the Toulouse Marathon and calls for its maintenance in 2022.
The information was relayed by the press at the beginning of the week: the metropolis of Toulouse has decided to cancel the next two editions of the Toulouse Marathon. A decision taken due to a significant financial deficit (nearly 400,000 euros) noted during the 2019 balance sheet.
A unilateral decision that lacks transparency
In an open letter to local media, the opposition group Métropole Écologiste et Citoyenne pour des Territoires Solidaires (MECTS) to metropolitan council regrets this decision and its unilateral nature. “We are very shocked and shocked to have learned of the decision to cancel the Toulouse Métropole marathon from the press, only a few days after the municipal and metropolitan councils, where you could have informed us of your choice. Moreover, this abandonment could have been mentioned at the last meeting of the Sports and Leisure Bases Commission, ”the opposition elected officials express indignation in the preamble to their letter.
A popular event
In addition, the MECTS group disputes the merits of this decision, considering that the deficit observed in 2019 was not but the consequence of poor organization. This edition has been maintained despite the surprise withdrawal of the French Athletics Federation to which the metropolis had subcontracted the organization. “The financial argument invoked, partly based on a very specific edition (2019), seems weak and not reassuring to us as to the financial capacities of the metropolis. € 400,000 in equity does not seem to be an insurmountable amount to keep such a popular sporting event, ”insist the opposition politicians.
A Toulouse marathon with fewer events in 2022
Finally, the latter request the maintenance of the event in a lighter version (without the half-marathon or the 10 kilometers) as well as its reinstatement in the 2022 budget. For this test year only the marathon and the relay marathon. This configuration was already a great success before 2017 and will perhaps make it possible to better control costs ”, they detail.