Paris (AFP)

The traditional Coupe de France, threatened by the cessation of amateur football due to confinement, was maintained Thursday by the federation at the cost of a fitted format which provides for two parallel tournaments before the reunion between amateurs and professionals in the round of 16.

Never interrupted, even during the Second World War, the more than a hundred years old "Old Lady" had at the end of the year 2020 lead in the wing, the round ball having ceased to turn for a long time in the towns and the countryside of France, excluding professional sport.

The coronavirus pandemic froze the organization of the Men's French Cup in the first preliminary rounds (the 5th round has not yet been fully contested) and the government announcements at the end of November had partly dampened the hopes of the most optimistic .

The words of Prime Minister Jean Castex announcing that "adults will not be able to resume team and contact sports before January 20" had the effect of a cold shower on Boulevard de Grenelle, where the FFF sits.

"If I listen carefully to what has been said, we will not be able to resume training before January 20 or 21. We could not start the competitions before February. It's almost done," lamented the president of the "3F" Noël Le Graët on the air of France 3 Bretagne.

- "Last chance" -

Since then, the services of the federation have worked on a new format allowing the Cup to be brought to an end, increasing the number of exchanges with the services of the State.

We had to "advance on this hypothesis" early, because "each week that passed forced us to tighten the turns", explains to AFP Christophe Drouvroy, director of national competitions at the FFF.

"This formula was the last chance to have a Coupe de France," he says.

Wednesday, the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, had partly sold the wick by assuring on Franceinfo TV that "the Coupe de France will take place" but "undoubtedly in a different format" and with "an offset schedule".

The modalities adopted were validated Thursday by the executive committee of the FFF and there should therefore be a winner for the 104th edition, one year after the victory of Paris SG against Saint-Etienne.

Parisians and Stéphanois will begin the adventure in the 32nd finals with the other teams in Ligue 1 and half of the teams in Ligue 2. A knockout round will indeed oppose the twenty clubs of the second division in the previous round.

Then, it will be time for reunion at the round of 16, where the 15 survivors of the professional world will meet the 17 survivors of the other path, that of amateurs.

- Calendar to be determined -

If the federation has not communicated a precise date, Mr. Drouvroy expects a reunification of the two tables "at the beginning of March", knowing that the recovery of the amateurs is expected "at best at the end of January, at the worst at the beginning of February".

To reach the round of 16, the "small" clubs of France will play at least four successive rounds.

There will be 124 metropolitan clubs on the start line in the 7th round, then 62 in the 8th round and half again in the 32nd finals, where three overseas representatives will enter the amateur lane.

After the reunification of the two routes, the Coupe de France will return to its classic format until the final, scheduled for no later than May since the Euro will start on June 11.

The women's edition will adopt an identical organization.

According to the FFF, "the twelve clubs of D1 Arkema will play a first round between themselves (six matches) in the round of 16, before being joined by the other clubs qualified from the round of 16".

"These measures reflect the will of the FFF to allow these two French Cups to come to an end and to allow all the clubs to participate", she welcomed.

However, the Gambardella Cup dedicated to young teams is canceled.

"Whatever the hypotheses, we could not catch up," said Drouvroy.

© 2020 AFP