The French Football Federation (FFF) acted Friday the limitation to 20 teams in Ligue 1, striking a death blow to the Championship project at 22 clubs supported by Amiens and Toulouse. These two clubs are now condemned to L2 and to the remedies, which they promise to carry out in the coming days.
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Meeting in Federal Assembly by videoconference, the FFF did not create the surprise: by adopting at 82.33% of the votes cast the new agreement binding it to the Professional League (LFP) for the next four seasons, it de facto reaffirmed his wish to see the French Championship restricted to a maximum of 20 teams, such a provision appearing in the text of this agreement.
Council of State decision swept aside
Ligue 1 to 22, desired for the 2020-21 fiscal year by the Picard club and the TFC, relegated at the end of this season truncated by the coronavirus, therefore has lead in the wing, despite a decision of the Council of 'State suggesting an enlargement on June 9. The highest administrative court had in fact suspended relegations on the grounds that the League had pronounced them on the basis of an expired FFF-LFP agreement, at the end of April, enjoining the football authorities to re-study the format of the Championship.
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But this did not disturb the leaders of French football: successively, the Bureau of the League, then its Board of Directors, then its General Assembly, then finally Friday the Federal Assembly bringing together nearly 200 delegates from amateur and professional clubs , all were in favor of maintaining the downgrades on the lower floor.
"We go up, we go down, that's life"
Before this Assembly, Amiens and Toulouse tried to convince. "Football would have come out grown by not pronouncing any descent, by showing a total humanism, a total solidarity", launched the president of Amiens Bernard Joannin. "What deeply shocks me is that our game is governed by rules, 90 minutes, 38 days. From the moment we modify these rules unilaterally, we distort the game and open the door to all interpretations. I find it a shame, "added his Toulouse counterpart Olivier Sadran.
"We go up, we go down, that's life. You have to respect the rules, they are what they are", replied the president of the FFF Noël Le Graët, affirming his "respect" for the leaders and recalling the importance of "finding a solution adaptable to all clubs". "It is not easy to keep a course of action, but we had to be in good standing," he continued after the meeting.
Amiens will counterattack
This is yet another blow for Amiens, who has already indicated that he has taken the decision "to file an appeal for interim measures before the Council of State", calling on the "political power" to "take responsibility" in the face to "such partiality and disrespect for a court decision".
The Somme club had been very active in the media in recent days to advocate the expansion of the Championship, which it considers manageable on the calendar, beneficial to "the general interest of football" and carrying "solidarity". Bernard Joannin also insisted on Friday to the Assembly that the relegation of his club would "destroy the club of Amiens, with dozens of families who will lose their jobs".