Amiens' proposals to make Ligue 1 work for 22 clubs

“No one says it's simple, but it's not insurmountable. The question is more about wanting than being able ”. Me Olivier Martin has a plan to save Amiens. Finally four, to be precise. The lawyer of the 19th in Ligue 1, whose relegation (with Toulouse) has been suspended by the Council of State pending a response from the LFP on the feasibility of a first division to 22 clubs next season , worked on four scenarios, which 20 Minutes was able to consult, proving according to him that a calendar with 42 days was playable.

"Amiens is not the organizer of the French football championship, and his lawyer is even less so," he specifies in the preamble. We can only give lines of work for the organization of the calendar. The Council of State asked the LFP to give it the elements to show that it was not possible, and asked Amiens to prove that it was. "

In a recent article, we explained to you that filling the calendar of 42 days over the period from August 23 to May 23, respecting the cut beaches of France and Europe, international matches and the winter break seemed almost impossible, unless improvements were made. . It is precisely on these developments that Amiens is based to offer its scenarios.

From a calendar point of view, is it playable a League 1 to 22? via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/cOcS80VDAg

Starting with the date of August 23. If it was fixed by the LFP as that of the recovery, "it is not more set in stone than that, because during the first board of directors of the LFP which followed the hearing of the Council of State , PSG came to say "we have to start earlier", explains Olivier Martin. It is not nonsense. »Especially if the sanitary conditions allow it. In its proposals, Amiens thus worked on revivals advanced on August 2, 9 or 16, thus allowing to release some dates. Condition sine qua non, obviously: that the sanitary conditions allow it.

Another proposal: establish a boxing day like England, that is to say play during the holiday season. "The championship will start again later, people are weaned from football, we have a new broadcaster who wants to oversell his championship, and it's been 3 or 4 years that we have this option in the boxes, sold by Didier Quillot himself as an extraordinary source of income, "explains the lawyer. Only problem: in its article 25, the collective agreement of pro football obliges the clubs to give a week of vacation to its players during this period, "except in exceptional cases". It is up to the LFP to decide if it is one.

End of marathon season and final sprint

The only certainty in all these hypotheses is that the death of the Coupe de la Ligue releases around 4 dates in early 2021. And could allow French football to launch towards an end-of-season marathon to complete its 42 days on May 23, a date that cannot be negotiated. at the end of the season before preparing for the Euro. In all its projections, the Amiens club leaves a little room to manage exceptional events (postponement of whole days like last year during demonstrations of yellow vests or matches due to bad weather) but also provides for an end season in sprint, with in particular six games in May, before the date of the 23rd. All that giving an overloaded calendar for the start of 2021 for our players, which could worry both the League about the competitiveness of French clubs in the European Cup or the physical freshness of our Ligue 1 Blues at Euro.

"The question is, does this observation in itself justify saying that we cannot do it," asks Olivier Martin. It seems a little fallacious to worry about the physical integrity of the players for four more games, says Olivier Martin. All the physical trainers tell you that it is organized, it is absorbed without any difficulty for a very high level athlete. The best interest of French football does not stop with the protection of the 10 or 12 players who will be selected for the French team, it is calculated in comparison with the 44 professional clubs which are in great financial difficulty due to the crisis and their need to absorb the shock and return to normal next season. On the scale of the pain we have had, I find that it is not expensive to pay. "

The LFP has until June 30 to give its opinion on the feasibility of a League at 22. And if it is not? "We are particularly determined," concluded the club's lawyer. If Amiens were to be relegated again despite the EC decision, we will be in a position to appeal to assert our rights. "

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Ligue 1: In Amiens and Toulouse, supporters navigate between resignation and hope of maintenance

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