Will "yellow vests" disrupt the Ligue 1 French league? The question arises this weekend, where several of the planned matches were canceled or postponed by the prefectures for the second consecutive week, because of the risks of overflow. Scheduled Saturday, Dijon-PSG has for example been postponed sine die "because of the news", at the request of the authorities of Côte-d'Or. Other meetings have already been reprogrammed on other dates. According to Didier Quillot, general manager of the Professional Football League (LFP), the situation remains "playable" for the moment.
"Never forget about security". "We have the goal that the few remaining matches to be rescheduled quickly," said the leader at Europe 1. "We will wait for the results of the Coupe de la Ligue (round of 16 Tuesday and Wednesday, ed ) and then according to the qualified teams, we will schedule the matches that will be postponed to January (...) With two truncated days, we know how to do. (...) We must be pragmatic and above all, never forget the security."
On the other hand, the situation could be complicated in case of "act six" of the movement next week-end, and new preventative cancellations. "As a citizen, I want a return to normal in the country as soon as possible, which will allow us, leaders of the LFP, also a return to normal programming of matches," says Didier Quillot. "It's true that if the next day, multiplex day (December 22, 10 matches the same evening, ed), was to be truncated, it would be more difficult to bring the reports on January."
"Do not want to hang around until February". The stakes are particularly heavy for PSG, Olympique Lyonnais and Stade Rennais, qualified respectively for the knockout stages of the Champions League and the Europa League. "The matches of Europe resume in February," said Didier Quillot. "We talked about including the leaders of PSG, they are in complete agreement with us and do not want to hang around until February," says the boss of the LFP.
Regarding the particular case of Parisians, the League is currently considering a request of the club: rescheduled on January 15, one of the canceled meetings falls during a training course planned in Qatar. "We will have an answer from Monday night", as to a possible shift, says Didier Quillot.