Can we fill the stadiums for the resumption of football in France?

• The only “big” European country to have announced the definitive end of its season, France intends to come back strong. That is to say with supporters in the stadiums, and well beyond the gauge of 5,000 people that currently prevails.
• Noël Le Graët was not too embarrassed with the usual precautions, openly saying he hoped for a Stade de France folded to the brim for the finals of the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue.
• One of the tracks envisaged is to define a reception gauge on a case-by-case basis, according to the size of the stadium and the plan proposed by the club, in agreement with its city.

Just a few weeks ago, the simple act of asking the question seemed completely incongruous. "I hate to say that I am 100% sure, but I am closer than ever to the fact that we will not be able to complete the stages until we have a vaccine," the Times told The Times in April. Zach Binney, epidemiologist at Emory University in the United States. Which brought us to early 2021 at best. He was far from the only one to think so. We didn't even know when we could see sport again, so from the public… And then the spread of the coronavirus slowed down, opening the field, as Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said during his speech on May 28, towards a return to "an almost normal life". And so as far as we are concerned with a football match with the public.

The only "big" European country to have announced the definitive end of its season, France, which will resume with the final of the PSG-OL League Cup in late July or early August, intends to come back strong. That is to say with supporters in the stadiums, and well beyond the gauge of 5,000 people currently prevailing. "We will obviously work so that, if the health doctrine allows, the gauge can increase," said Monday the Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu.

The situation has therefore changed very quickly. Did Edouard Philippe not also say, at the end of May, that large gatherings remained "our greatest adversary"? But Maracineanu is willingly committed to the subject. Perhaps to show that his April remarks about sport, which will be "not a priority in the decisions taken by the government", badly perceived by many, belong to the past. Perhaps also (and above all?) To tell everyone that it is time to move forward, after all the controversy that has not grown French football and its leaders.

Easier in large stadiums

Noël Le Graët was not too embarrassed with the usual precautions, openly saying he hoped for a Stade de France folded to the brim for the finals of the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue. "I'm going to be excessive ... It seems possible to me," he said to Le Figaro on Tuesday. Really ? We're not there yet, obviously. "He pushes the ball a little further, that's good, but that doesn't mean that it will be that," said the Sports Minister.

Already, much will depend on the Prime Minister's announcements for phase 3 of the deconfinement on June 22. Edouard Philippe will say, according to the health data at his disposal, if the players in football can push the reflection further. In the meantime, Roxana Maracineanu has sent a letter to the FFF and the LFP (as to other Federations and Leagues) asking them to make proposals on how the return of the public could be set up, with what terms and what health protocol.

“It is above all, for us, the way in which supporters get to the stadium, with what means of transport. This is why we want to make the actors of events as well as the spectators responsible for proposing a protocol which makes it possible to insure everyone, "explained the Minister at the start of the week.

The process has been going on for many weeks, in reality. "We have been trying to work with my colleagues from other clubs for a while to answer a whole bunch of logistical and health questions and convince the government," said Xavier Perrot, stadium manager of Olympique Lyonnais , at 20 Minutes . We know for example that it will be easier to manage a certain influx for stadiums larger than small enclosures, the same for stadiums with more access doors. We are trying to agree with the other clubs but we know that it will also depend on the prefectures. "

It is therefore at the local level that reflection is launched. One of the tracks envisaged is to define a reception gauge on a case-by-case basis, according to the size of the stadium and the plan proposed by the club, in agreement with its city. All the options are on the table, anyway. The department wants to cover all angles.

Galloping test in Lyon in July?

The main stakeholders are not forgotten. On Monday, Roxana Maracineanu organized a video meeting with representatives of the National Association of Supporters (ANS). What they appreciate. “We are not put aside in the discussions, we are asked for our opinion on how the supporters could return. It was one of our requests, and that's a good point, ”notes Kilian, who was there.

Press conference by @roxamaracineanu at the end of the 6th plenary session of the National Authority for Supportism https://t.co/pZtzek39JN

A working group will be set up within the ANS to develop the various avenues proposed. "The announcement of phase 3 will condition the direction in which our work will go," says Kilian. In any case, no question of seeing in France atmospheres created from scratch, as we can see since the recovery in Germany and Spain. "Our position is clear, we are completely against everything that is artificial," he asserts on behalf of the association. That's good, it's not in the ministry's projects.

A test gallop could be organized in Lyon, on the occasion of the two friendly tournaments announced Wednesday by Jean-Michel Aulas. The first, with men's teams (including PSG?) Will probably take place between July 13 and 18. "Our desire is to show that it is possible to welcome the public," confirms Xavier Perrot. We have only one desire in Lyon, it is to have the public, to find fervor for this start of the season. But do not relax, the wearing of masks will certainly continue, for example. "

If the epidemic is under control, the virus is still present. Public Health France detected 3,520 new cases last week, out of 236,000 tests carried out. "We will be on the other side of the wave when we have less than 100 new cases a day," said epidemiologist Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health in Geneva, at the JDD. The health watch captures only about one in ten. It is therefore still too early to lift all the brakes. "

Football, like all components of society, moreover, has two crucial deadlines before it: the declaration of Edouard Philippe in ten days and the end of the state of health emergency, on July 10. The trend is towards optimism, but we will still have to convince the bulk of the population that this large-scale return will be under control.

Everyone has in mind the role played in the spread of the epidemic by the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League between Atalanta and Valencia, played in Milan on February 19. A match described retrospectively as a “biological bomb” by the Italian immunologist Francesco Le Floche in the Corriere della Serra. “It is possible that the tonnage will remain at 5,000 all July and all August. This possibility should not be ruled out, ”warns the Ministry of Sports. We wouldn't have thought we said that a month ago, but frankly, we couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

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