Paris (AFP)

Amiens before the Council of State, act II. The club awaits Friday a new decision from the judge on summary of his relegation to Ligue 2, which he challenges, the last judicial soap opera of French football which is slowly recovering from the health crisis.

Thursday, the League (LFP) published the calendars for the 2020-2021 season, which reserves for the CSA the reception of Nancy, August 22, for the first day of L2. But for the training chaired by Bernard Joannin, it is on the floor above that it must evolve on recovery.

Nineteenth when the Championship stopped, with ten days to go, the Picardy team refused its descent, voted by a League Administrative Council (LFP) on April 30. For two months, she has defended her position before the courts: Administrative Tribunal, then Council of State - twice.

The first time, on June 9, it had obtained the suspension of its relegation on behalf of higher administrative jurisdiction, which had enjoined the authorities to re-examine the format of Ligue 1, on a question of form.

A month later, the authorities resumed their rounds and confirmed the award. LFP like FFF ruled out the enlargement of the Championship to 22 teams which would have allowed Amiens, as in Toulouse, to save their place.

"The question was simply whether French professional football was ready to show solidarity in this period of exceptional crisis and to share the amount of television rights at 22 rather than 20. The members of the GA of the League replied negatively. I deeply regret it, "reacted Bernard Joannin, after a meeting of the General Assembly of the LFP on June 23.

- Between EUR 44 and 50 million in losses -

If the TFC announced that it had accepted its fate in L2, the Picard club did not throw in the towel. And therefore finds himself, again, before the judge in chambers, with new elements.

Calendar, distribution of TV rights, sports consequences, players' health ... In documents sent to the Council of State, of which AFP obtained a copy, the ASC contradicts one by one the arguments proposed by the LFP.

"The LFP presented biased and biased information (...) with the sole purpose of preventing informed decision-making and convincing voters that a Ligue 1 to 22 was impossible," said the club.

Amiens criticizes in particular the insufficiency of proposals on the calendar at 10 pm, and the absence of "statistical or scientific study" on the question of the physical integrity of the players.

The League, it is already turned on the final of the Cup of the League, on July 31, and the season 2020-21 of L1 which must begin during the weekend of August 22.

It went through several weeks of turmoil, attacked before the courts by clubs which considered themselves injured by the judgment of the Championship - Amiens, Toulouse, but also Lyon, Le Mans (L2), Orléans (L2), AC Ajaccio (L2), Clermont (L2) and Troyes (L2).

But the latest ordinances (decisions) of the Council of State have proved him right, as in the case of the opponent at Le Mans and Orleans, who contested their descent into National 1. The two teams, on July 7, announced that they had accepted relegation.

For Amiens, regardless of the outcome, there will remain an appeal to the merits, which will take several months and could allow him to obtain compensation.

A study by the KPMG firm estimated the losses of the Picard club, in the event of relegation, between 44 and 50 million euros.

© 2020 AFP