Kylian Mbappé. (illustration) - CHINA NEW / SIPA

The 2019-2020 season has been stopped since March 13, but the 2020-2021 Ligue 1 season could resume on August 23. Despite the uncertainty for the end of this season, at a meeting of the Bureau of the Professional Football League on Friday, "privileged" dates for the resumption of the 2020-2021 season were set. For L1, it would be Sunday, August 23, for Ligue 2, Saturday, August 22. These dates were unanimously agreed on Friday morning during a meeting of more than three hours, according to several sources close to the file, confirming information from L'Equipe .

"It gives clear bases, it allows everyone to work on something conceivable", justifies one of them, while insisting on the fact that these dates are "subject to the calendar of the 'UEFA and changing health conditions'. "This secures the next season", that of the new cycle of TV rights (2020-2024), exceeding for the first time the billion euros annually, explains another source close to the matter.

"Favor the Mediapro contract"

In this scenario, even if the current season ends in early August, as UEFA has previously recommended according to these same sources, this will leave "three weeks of re-athletics" between the two seasons.

For several days, certain club presidents, such as Bertrand Desplat (Guingamp, L2), had insisted on the importance of fixing a date before the start of next season. "A recovery at Saint-Glinglin must not transfer the problem to the next championship," for example hammered to AFP Pierre Wantiez, general manager of Le Havre (L2). "The real question is back-planning: what is the ultimate date to start 2020-2021 well?"

The proposal, initially shared by 19 L2 clubs and seven L1 clubs (Dijon, Amiens, Lyon, Angers, Brest, Metz, Strasbourg), to which has since been added an 8th elite club (Nîmes), aimed, according to a source familiar with the matter, "favor the Mediapro contract", the future broadcaster of the Championship, over the Canal + and beIN Sports contracts, current broadcasters having frozen their payments. "In this way, we can take the question backwards and decline the entire calendar from that," we continue from the same source.

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  • League 1
  • Covid 19
  • Soccer
  • Sport
  • Coronavirus