Football: Ligue 1 resumes under threat of Covid-19

While the spotlight is focused on the Champions League final between Paris SG and Bayern Munich, which will take place on Sunday, Ligue 1 resumes, Friday August 21, almost on the sly, after a five-month break due to a pandemic.

The threat of the virus is still relevant today. Bordeaux and Nantes have indeed been called upon to replace at short notice the Marseillais and the Stéphanois, whose meeting initially scheduled for Friday was postponed to September 17 due to four positive cases of Covid-19 in the OM workforce.

🚨 The opening match of Ligue 1 Uber Eats will pit @girondins against @FCNantes!

The #FCGBFCN meeting is therefore advanced, and will be broadcast on Friday August 21, 2020 at 7 p.m. on @telefoot_chaine 📝➡ https://t.co/xXeYfqSvvI pic.twitter.com/F8oqDnUWrf

The "Atlantic derby" is certainly a classic of the L1, which has already enjoyed the honors of opening the season, especially in 2001 after the last title of the Canaries. But this time, this poster at the Stade Matmut Atlantique, propelled as a locomotive from the first day of L1 for the great launch of the Téléfoot channel by the new broadcaster Médiapro, risks being a little bland.

It is because Bordeaux and Nantes, far from their past glory, are approaching this new financial year with many questions. In particular because their preparation was strongly disrupted, Bordeaux by the long series of the departure of its ex-technician Paulo Sousa, and Nantes by a series of cases of Covid-19.

A replacement opening game       

In front of 5,000 masked spectators, the maximum authorized tonnage, the exemption to increase to 10,000 spectators having been rejected by the Gironde prefecture, this new program does not do Jean-Louis Gasset's business.

Appointed only ten days ago on the Bordeaux bench to replace Sousa, the dean of the L1 coaches (66 years old) has not had the opportunity to gauge the potential of his group. He also judged his workforce "a little traumatized" and "bored" by the agitation, which reigned this summer behind the scenes of Haillan. In addition, a case of Covid-19 detected in the ranks of Auxerre was right, Saturday, of the only preparatory match he could have led before the resumption.

Listening to the advice of the coach @joshmaja #PreparationFCGB pic.twitter.com/Xouojrt5wy

Despite these setbacks, Gasset will be able to rely on a team that knows each other well. There were no recruits and the base seems rather homogeneous, if we refer to the friendly victory (4-0), obtained in Reims on August 8.

In the ranks of Nantes, Christian Gourcuff does not boast about the idea of ​​being put in the spotlight and inaugurating this championship afterwards. The succession of cases of coronavirus in its workforce since the end of July has upset its preparation work (friendly match in Belgium canceled, training truncated ...) and deprived it of a time of seven players tested positive, including the captain Abdoulaye Touré or executives like Ludovic Blas or Marcus Coco.

🗣 Christian Gourcuff: "What happened to us (number of positive cases) will happen to other teams, and it is starting to be the case. Players who have contracted the virus should for the most part be immunized for a while, and so much better." #FCGBFCN pic.twitter.com/epCp79xa9a

Three of them, including Blas and Coco, have just passed the necessary cardiac tests before a full recovery and will be traveling to Bordeaux even if they have only just returned to the group. The other four still remain in isolation or undergo individual training, while the workforce also has three players unavailable for small injuries.

"We are very vigilant"

In other clubs spared by the virus, the concern is there. "We are very vigilant, we break the heads of the players with fairly strong daily messages. We encourage them to have their families tested [...], unfortunately to limit contact with the outside as much as possible. But we know very well that the bubble is pierced everywhere ", explains Nicolas Holveck, president of Rennes.

Contaminations are also on the rise in general in the cities of some of the affected clubs, such as Marseille and Nîmes, notes Emmanuel Orhant, medical director of the French Football Federation. If the trend continues, the efforts of clubs and entourage will not necessarily be sufficient, since the authorities could reconfine cities or departments, and their clubs with it.

The long suspension from the championship in March also cost the clubs dearly, who lost part of their television rights and revenues, which, for most of them, wiped out the gains hoped for this year thanks to the increased rights in the new contract with Mediapro. And above all, the drastic limitation of the number of spectators augurs well for new shortfalls.

Drastic rules

While waiting to do the accounts, the teams will have to comply with a very strict health protocol. In all stages, and "at all times", the mask will be compulsory from 11 years old, and even in the locker rooms.

During the warm-up, all players will be exempt from it, but once the kick-off has been given, the substitutes will have to hide again. Physical distancing will be required until "private conversations", the essential interviews must be "brief" and "in a small circle".

A "plan for cleaning, disinfection and ventilation of the various spaces of the stadium" is in place, with the aim of regularly disinfecting all the contact areas. Even the balls will be regularly disinfected during the matches, by masked and gloved ball collectors.

A "rigorous" testing program is also imposed: each player must undergo a PCR test between 72 hours and 48 hours before each game. Any positive test following the development of symptoms will require the player to be isolated from the patient. group for 14 days from the first day of symptom onset.

And from four players or supervisors isolated over eight rolling days, the virus will be considered "circulating" in the club, which will require the organization of training in small groups only for seven days and the referral of a "Covid commission "responsible for deciding on any postponements of matches. 

With AFP         

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