A clue at home, at the bottom of your screen. You have your hand. Top ! An important figure in French football, I stood out this year by trying to save the football season on numerous occasions despite the health emergency. President of a club moderately well placed in Ligue 1, I invoked until the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to find a legal vacuum that would send me to the European Cup next season. As known for my bad faith as my dyslexia on Twitter, I am, I am, am ...
Jean-Michel Aulas, you all had it. Thursday, when the question of resumption of football seemed to be resolved immediately with the announcement of the end of the season for Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the president of OL put a big bifton in the machine in an interview given to the Team, taking advantage of the formalization of the resumption of the German championship for the weekend of May 16 to launch his favorite subject, that of the Ebidta.
"We are on the wrong path, it may not be too late to try to imagine, in the light of what is happening everywhere in Europe, something that is politically coherent: we had until late August and maybe even early September to complete. I made a small calculation this afternoon: the losses, for French football, would border 700 million euros because of this decision. "
Could the government have spoken too quickly by announcing the ban on soccer games until September? It is obviously still too early to say. First because the epidemic situation is not at all the same in Germany, where the Coronavirus claimed 7,000 victims, compared to more than 25,000 in France. And then because no one knows yet if this resumption of German football will be done in correct sanitary conditions and successfully, that is to say without spreading the virus.
Italy and England soon?
But if all goes well, then Germany will be the hero of football Europe. "The return of the Bundesliga is great news for the football industry and paves the way for the return of football," said Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish league, in the wake. We are working to get La Liga back soon. "
Italy and England, among the countries most affected by the epidemic, have also been delaying for several weeks before deciding on the end of the season and could use the German example to launch a recovery phase. The fate of the Premier League could also be sealed Sunday, in the deconfinement plan announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Which would make Ligue 1 the only “big five” championship with no end of season.
This would pose several problems of economic and sports competitiveness to our French clubs in the future.
- our clubs would be the only ones in Europe not to have received all the TV rights
- deprived of end of season, Ligue 1 players would lose in value before the transfer window
- if the Champions League were to resume in August, as UEFA hopes, neither PSG nor Lyon would be ready to resume competition
The CEO of our good old LFP, Didier Quillot, himself admitted on BFM TV that "it would certainly be a difficulty for the clubs if France was the only one (among the big championships) to have made this decision".
For now, only Quillot and Aulas have publicly challenged the government's decision to end the season. The other presidents have been respecting the ceasefire of inflammatory statements in the press for a few days. The Netherlands, which had taken the decision to end the season before us (without crowning a champion), does not seem to be more troubled than that by the resumption of German football.
"Nobody links the situation of Germany to ours, we no longer have the opportunity to play because the government has prohibited any sports event until September 1, and it is not the decision of the football world, explains Jeroen Kapteijns, journalist at Telegraaf. In our championship, the majority of clubs preferred to stop the season, especially since the TV rights were already distributed and therefore the less serious financial consequences. Today, no one is calling for the return of football before September 1. Maybe if it goes well in Germany, the discussion will happen. "
But in the Netherlands as in France, it is difficult to see how the government could get rid of it. And even less how the league could relaunch a season of which it has announced the end. “Legally, everything is possible in the statutes of the LFP and they could help unravel all of this, analyzes Me Thierry Granturco, lawyer specializing in sport. But this would require that the Board of Directors reverse its decision and convene an extraordinary General Assembly. Or that at least a quarter of the General Assembly of the LFP (made up of one member from each club and six representatives of the different football professions) does not self-seize in order to modify the statutes of the LFP. When this happens, it is a great distrust, it is politically very unlikely. "
And in court, not much more. Clubs can consider appeals first to the LFP, then to the FFF, then to the CNOSF and finally to the Administrative Court, if no procedure succeeds. Useless. "The remedies would always be longer than the resumption date of the 2020-21 season," said the lawyer.
The month of August in question
In short, restarting the 2019-20 season before the next one begins seems to him completely "illusory". In fact, neither the clubs nor the players are ready to resume the game in the short or medium term anyway. On the other hand, speaking out on Jean-Michel Aulas can put pressure on the government. A way of saying: "all the other championships will resume except ours, and this by your decision, it is up to you to assume it". By helping financially, for example, or by justifying in this way a request for compensation. "A club can claim compensation by attacking the state," said Granturco. And there, it is not excluded that he can get something, especially if the other championships resume. The injured clubs could say to themselves "Ok, we did not succeed in invalidating the decision, on the other hand we can wonder what are the economic consequences of this decision. Does that generate a loss of profit? If I can prove that another decision could be made, there may be compensation "".
Last argument to force the hand of the government a little, that of August. Because if Edouard Philippe had announced curtain until September, all French football hopes rather to resume a month earlier, even behind closed doors. At that time, provided that everything is going well in Germany, the Bundesliga will have resumed almost three months ago. Difficult then to legitimately continue a ban. Questioned Tuesday by the Chain Team, sports minister Roxana Maracineanu also opened wide the doors to football in August, and not only behind closed doors.
"You talk to me about September, but I tell you" even in August ". If the pandemic allows it, if we do not return to this figure of 5000 and then especially if it is authorized to have less than 5000 people gathered, this will be possible from the beginning of August. "
She then raised the question of the finals of the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue 2019-20, which the LFP would like to "save" at the start of next season, that is to say in early August. To which must be added the Champions League, which UEFA wants to play the rest of the finals in this same month of August. So, two out of three events that concern a certain club of a certain president. A hint at the top of your screen, in pictures.
- Deconfinement
- Bundesliga
- League 1
- Coronavirus
- Soccer
- Sport