• France: Ligue 1 proclaims PSG champion and announces declines

French football has closed until September. The Macron government and the clubs themselves have chosen not to retake Ligue 1 without being certain that the risk of contagion by Covid has dissipated. With eleven days to play, ten in the case of some teams, PSG has been proclaimed champion for the ratio of points obtained so far and it remains to be seen what will happen to the French Cup and the League Cup, in which the PSG would face St. Étienne and Olympique de Lyon. Both could be deserted or disputed in September.

How can French clubs survive what was called a debacle in LaLiga? "Re-adapting ourselves, modifying the financial plans and opting for a plan B for the next market. Since the beginning of the health crisis, in every meeting of the LFP the scenario of not competing again was very present", explains Eduardo Macià, director Bordeaux Girondins sports car. Like the employers in Spain, the French had presented a very strict protocol for the return that included controls on the players and all their relatives. Clubs' revenues also depend on between 35% and 50% of television rights, from which only two of the four anticipated terms have been charged up to one hour. Economic interest existed, but not as intense or as unanimous. "The clubs are more healthy and with all professional sports suspended, including mythical competitions such as the Tour de France or the Monaco GP, how was football going to return?" Reflects Macià.

No one felt strongly, and less after the Government's position. But there were also two voices that weighed against the resumption. In the case of television, they estimated that their market would lose interest in a cold competition, behind closed doors and with too many games concentrated in a few weeks. With the mediation of Eliseo, the agreement with the television operators was not to resume the competitions.

The other weighty opinion came from the coaches. "Many told us that it would be a adulterated competition, that it is impossible to play more than three games in 12 days, due to the risk of injury and the mental weight that games would have behind closed doors, which are very long," says the sports director. of the twelfth classified. "In addition, there are teams like PSG that have 25 high-level players who can rotate without problems, but others when they change three are another team."

The stoppage in soccer that has caused the coronavirus pandemic is going to extend beyond what usually occurs between seasons. "But there are also fundamental differences. Normally the players come from four weeks of rest, not from confinement at home, do a preseason and play between six and seven friendlies. And even then, the first two or three games are played at a pace very low. Now that will not happen. If he were to play again, the preseason will be done without being able to play any matches in training and he will return fully to the competition. That can lead to injuries that affect the following season, "he warns .

How are they going to cushion the economic blow of having left Ligue 1 halfway? With individualized cuts and solidarity mechanisms. Without legislation allowing Ertes, the reduction in salaries for professional footballers, who also did not want to take risks by playing again, has been automatically reduced by 30%. "Even the union has accepted that part of the wages can be deferred, something that can be negotiated individually with the footballers," he explains. Of course, it is not limited to the youth squads or the employees of the clubs that charge less than 3,000 euros. In the case of Bordeaux, "we have modified strategic pillars to be exemplary and we have thoroughly studied the situation of the workforce to, with a lot of dialogue, personalize the cuts analyzing each particular situation," Macià says.

With the official suspension, sports directors are already thinking about the market. For two months, the Bordeaux scouting team has done 70% of their usual work with activity plans, video analysis, rational performance checks ... "We have only stopped watching live matches, which is only 30% of our usual work. " But they depend on the global stage. "It's not just about buying, but what we can sell. Last summer we found more availability because Sevilla bought us Koundé for 25 million. But now you may have planned to put a player on the market and, for the price they give you after this crisis, you prefer to keep it. We have to work with many possible scenarios ", Macià sentence. The only insurance is that the French stadiums will not open until September.

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