Paris (AFP)

The general assembly of the Professional Football League (LFP) adopted on Wednesday the principle of an enlarged Ligue 2 from 20 to 22 teams next season, we learned from sources close to the file, a decision which must still be validated by the French federation (FFF).

This reform, voted at 57% of the vote by the general assembly according to a source close to the deliberations, should allow Orléans and Le Mans, the last two of L2 at the time of the interruption of the season pronounced at the end of April because of the coronavirus pandemic, avoid relegation.

But it must be validated by the executive committee of the federation to be fully recorded, while the president of the FFF Noël Le Graët said he wanted promotions and relegation at all levels of French football.

In late April, the FFF had also warned the LFP's board of directors that it wanted "overall consistency between the various amateur and professional divisions" and that it would be "vigilant" on this issue after having maintained the principle of ascents / descents in the lower categories, according to the minutes of the meeting.

This enlargement of the 2nd French division was desired by a majority of L2 residents, according to certain players in French football. But it was necessary to convince several Ligue 1 teams to obtain a majority of the general assembly, which also includes representatives of the football families (coaches, players ...).

- Orléans and Le Mans saved? -

This reform should make it possible to welcome the promoted Pau and Dunkirk, the first two of National 1 (3rd div.) While saving Orléans and Le Mans, respectively last and penultimate of L2 at the end of an incomplete season.

"Everyone knows that, in football, the most violent demotion is that between the L2 and the National", had alleged in a statement the presidents of Orleans and Le Mans in recent days.

But if the current agreement between LFP and FFF allows the second division to be enlarged to "twenty-two clubs at most", Noël Le Graët has never hidden his hostility to such a scenario.

This decision could also stir up the anger of Toulouse and Amiens, relegated from L1 to L2, the Picard club having openly indicated to wish the passage of the elite to 22 clubs for next season, by also filing two appeals to the Administrative Court of Paris to challenge his relegation pronounced on April 30 by the LFP board of directors.

© 2020 AFP