INTERVIEW
The football championships will therefore have had an unprecedented epilogue. Following the announcements of Edouard Philippe on Tuesday, confirmed in stride by the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët, the sports season is indeed over. For the club of Pau Pau, leader of National, the third division, the access to Ligue 2 now seems acquired. "[This] makes it possible to position the Pau club in a professional environment, something that has never happened to date," enthusiastic Bernard Laporte-Fray, club president, on Europe 1 Wednesday.
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"Put professionals in all positions"
"We are first to date, which should grant us the title of champion [...] but especially access to Ligue 2." The coronavirus epidemic has completely changed the organization of the sports world. Club promotions and demotions should finally occur, without all the games of the season having been played. For Bernard Laporte-Fray, the title of National champion is not the most important. Access to Ligue 2 will allow FC Pau to grow further and begin its professionalization.
From a financial point of view, everything changes. The club should benefit from an envelope "of between 5 and 7 million euros" of television rights. Far from the aid of 230,000 euros granted by the FFF at the start of the season to a resident of the third division. "This will allow us, if this rise is decided [...] to put professionals in all positions. That is the most important!"
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Attack preparation for the next season
The leader describes a heavy, almost gloomy atmosphere within the club since the beginning of the confinement. "It's been more than a month and a half [...] that we have not moved forward, that we cannot position ourselves in the future." The players thus continued their physical training, in small groups, with health security constraints, in the event of having to repress the lawns. According to him, these joint announcements from the Prime Minister and the FFF are welcome and allow us to attack the preparation for the next season.
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Despite the unfinished taste of this outcome, FC Pau will undoubtedly keep an enchanted memory of its 2019-2020 season. The club had distinguished itself in the Coupe de France, where the team had overthrown the Girondins de Bordeaux, a Ligue 1 club, before being eliminated in the round of 16 by Paris Saint-Germain.