Paris (AFP)

The Council of State turns French football upside down: the interim judge suspended Tuesday the relegations of Amiens and Toulouse, paving the way for a Ligue 1 to 22 teams, while rejecting the idea of ​​resuming the 2019 season -2020, defended by Lyon.

The supreme administrative court, judge of last resort, put an end to a debate which tore apart French football for several weeks. But his decision may have opened other front lines, with effects still unknown.

It is the whole house of cards built by the Federation (FFF) on the principle of the uphill and downhill maintenance, which threatens to collapse. It is up to the League (LFP), in conjunction with the FFF, to review the structure of the next Championship before June 30.

Judge Bertrand Dacosta agreed with Amiens (19th in L1) and Toulouse (20th), who challenged an "arbitrary" demotion when they had nine days left to try to keep up.

He considered that establishing a final classification "did not necessarily result" in relegation, and that this relegated "serious and immediate harm" to the interests of the clubs, according to the terms of the order.

- The victory of "values" -

"I feel that we have won the values ​​of football," said Amiens SC president Bernard Joannin to AFP. "For all the employees, members of the training center, professional players, this is extraordinary because they are people and families who were afraid of losing their jobs."

"The TFC is maintained in Ligue 1 for the 2020-2021 season," said Toulouse, without waiting for the new LFP decision on the matter.

This decision of the State Council feeds more than ever the scenario of a Ligue 1 to 22 teams next season, against 20 currently, which had been discussed Thursday at the hearing.

The Amiens club had reported that the scheduled disappearance of the League Cup, by releasing several dates, opened up new opportunities on the calendar. But the LFP had replied that enlargement was not possible, in particular due to the convention binding it to the FFF which prohibited, for the 2019-2020 season, an L1 with more than 20 participants.

However, this text expires on June 30, and "will no longer be applicable for the 2020-2021 season", indicated the judge who enjoined the two authorities to "re-examine the question of the format of Ligue 1 for the 2020-2021 season ( ...) and draw the consequences as to the principle of relegation (...) by June 30. "

The League therefore has three weeks to review its copy, as it prepares to unveil the calendar for the next financial year, which is due to start on 23 August, in the wake of the UEFA executive committee, scheduled for 17 and 18 June.

On the Federation side, another order of the Council of State will be just as decisive: that concerning the appeal of thirty amateur clubs which contest their relegations, expected for Wednesday or Thursday.

- Lyon rejected -

At Lyo the hoped-for big bang made pschitt. The court upheld the decision of the LFP's Board of Directors on April 30 to definitively stop the Championship and to define a final classification according to a quotient "points taken per match played".

Thus, the interrupted competition will not resume, there will be no "white season" renewing the European Cup qualifiers from the previous exercise, and OL therefore remains seventh, out of European places. He will have to win the final of the League Cup against Paris SG to compete in the Europa League next season, or succeed in winning the Champions League to replay the C1.

The judge also ordered OL to pay 3,000 euros to the LFP for the costs of the proceedings.

The play-off project defended by President Jean-Michel Aulas, the only one to publicly defend this idea, falls apart.

It is the end of a debate which agitated French football, but not of the cacophony which persists since the beginning of the crisis of the coronavirus ...

© 2020 AFP