Paris (AFP)
Postponement or in camera? Supporters of the two options oppose before the meeting of club presidents on Monday in Toulouse, which must decide the fate of the Top 14 and the Pro D2 in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
A first decision was already expected on Tuesday. But, after the ban decreed until April 15 of any gathering of more than 1,000 people, rugby pro in France decided to "give themselves time to consider the impact of the different scenarios".
The National Rugby League (LNR) will therefore send Friday to the thirty clubs of the first two divisions two hypotheses, one on the postponement, the other on the closed door. With, each time, figures, the consequences but also the probable timetable.
The goal? Allow clubs to decide their fate in the face of coronavirus.
"Whatever solution is chosen, the economic impact will be enormous. We are aware that there is no good solution," said one side of the LNR.
- Uncertainty -
In the closed-door camp, we find the Stade Français and Bordeaux-Bègles, the current championship leader, or Brive.
"Simply because the postponement is not guaranteed: the next three days ok, but after? We can have a postponement on a postponement ... and there, it becomes complicated. The situation is inextricable," explained to the 'AFP Paris director general Thomas Lombard.
"We have to play the maximum number of games, we can assume a part of it. I mean a part ... Then, it will be necessary for people, that is to say the League, the government, the Ministry of Sports, help us, "he added.
For the French Stadium, "it is an estimated loss between 500 and 700,000 euros" for the next two home matches against Brive on March 21 and Castres on 28. "This is not negligible. And that's not counting the renegotiations of certain contracts or the compensation that certain service providers could ask us ... "
Same story from Brive's side: "Given the complexity of the calendar, we do not see how it would be possible to postpone all the meetings suspended for a month. Above all, imagine the scenario where the government would extend this measure after the 15th April or, worse, would decide to cancel all sports matches like in Italy ... We could not go to the end of the championship. It is still preferable that the Top 14 ends on the field and not according to the regulations " , underlines the director general of Corrèze Xavier Ric.
- "800,000 euros in losses -
A catastrophic situation for the clubs, whose budgets are linked to the receipts of the matches (ticket office, refreshment bar, partnerships ...). "A match behind closed doors is 800,000 euros in losses," said Toulouse stadium president Didier Lacroix.
The reigning French champion advocates rather the postponement, like Clermont, Toulon or Agen. For the RCT, it is "not to penalize the club's economy but also and above all to be able to share the end-of-season matches, and the emotion that accompanies them, with its supporters".
But as everyone recognizes, the Lyon president Yann Roubert, fatalist, is convinced: "there is no quick fix". "Our supporters and partners come to the match to share emotions. If we go to postponements, we are not sure that it will get better after April 15. And suddenly, we can have the double penalty, that of postponements and behind closed doors. And if the measures are more drastic, there will still be postponements when there will be no more possible dates. We will have to choose between plague and cholera. "
A postponement would inevitably have consequences for the already busy calendar, between championship, European Cups and the Blues' tour of Argentina in July, in addition to the already recorded postponement of France-Ireland, last match of the Six Nations Tournament, now announced end of October.
Not sure that Canal +, the broadcaster who puts 97 million euros on the table each season, is delighted to have to do without rugby.
© 2020 AFP