The Mondial de pétanque attracts thousands of boules to Marseille every year. – ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP
The epidemic of Covid-19 will not have been right at the Mondial de pétanque, to the relief of the boules players. From August 30 to September 2, Marseille will therefore host the 59th edition
of the Mondial La Marseillaise in pétanque, which will take place this year in a specific context. “There will not be players from China, Japan, South America”, due to travel restrictions linked to the global coronavirus pandemic, said Pierre Guille, president of the event.
???????? We will not lie to each other, with 15 victories between them, Marco Foyot, Dylan Rocher and Stéphane Robineau ???? are big favorites of this 59th edition #MLM2020 ???????????? https://t.co/zeghIpS37B pic.twitter.com/vqb27EpmK7
– The Marseillaise (@MondialLaMars) July 23, 2020
Despite everything, more than 2,150 teams have already registered, coming from all over France but also from Germany, Italy and Switzerland in particular. African players could also join the competition. Last year, 4,560 three-person teams, men, women, seasoned players and amateurs, took part.
Bowlers must wear the mask
To avoid any risk of contamination, the organization of the World of pétanque has also established a detailed health charter. The games will be played on 25 different sites so that there will never be “more than 5,000 people at the same time on the same place”, underlined Pierre Guille. Large gel distribution terminals, marking on the ground to respect distancing, wearing a compulsory mask in the area of Parc Borély, where many games will be held, are also among the measures taken.
“We will certainly have to play with the mask,” Pierre Guille finally explained. And even if “point” or “shoot” his ball in the summer heat in ProvenceWill not be very easy, one of the former winners of this competition, Patrick Meissonnier, said he was ready to comply. For the city of Marseille, the event represented, in previous years, economic benefits of 16 million euros, according to a study by the Chamber of Commerce cited by its organizers.
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