At the Ernest-Wallon stadium, in January 2020, during a match between Stade Toulouse and Gloucester. - Fred Scheiber / SIPA

  • The presidents of Stade Toulousain, TFC and Colomiers rugby met the prefect of Haute-Garonne on Tuesday.
  • The leaders did not obtain the assurance of exemptions from the tonnage of 5,000 people in the stadiums, but the commitment to receive a response to their request seven days before a match.

The meeting lasted "a good couple of hours" this Tuesday morning, says Alain Carré. The president of Colomiers rugby (Pro D2), as well as his counterparts from Stade Toulousain (Didier Lacroix) and TFC (Damien Comolli) met Etienne Guyot, prefect of Haute-Garonne. The purpose of the interview? Discuss crowds in stadiums during this time of rebound in the coronavirus epidemic.

While Ligue 2 resumed last weekend and the Top 14 and Pro D2 are preparing to start their season, the weekend of September 5 and 6, the stakes are high, with a question: the tonnage of 5,000 people, in theory the standard until October 31, will it be able to benefit from adjustments? The three leaders received this Tuesday in the prefecture did not receive an affirmative answer. Neither negative.

"We still have something"

“What is good is that we still have something, appreciates despite everything Alain Carré, come like his colleagues to plead his case with a thick file under his arm. We can request a waiver at least 11 days before a match, and we will have a response seven days before the match. "This response" will take into account the context, the epidemiological situation of the moment and the requested gauge ", indicates the prefecture of Haute-Garonne in a press release.

The prefecture extends the wearing of the mask to the whole city of Toulouse https://t.co/1dpV8F84ns via @ 20minutes pic.twitter.com/zaCGGPHiYn

- 20 Minutes Toulouse (@ 20minutestoul) August 19, 2020

This Tuesday, the department was still classified as "moderate vulnerability" by Public Health France, while since Friday, wearing a mask is mandatory everywhere in Toulouse. This affluence issue is very sensitive for rugby clubs, whose economy is extremely dependent on ticketing and hospitality revenues (boxes and services rented by companies). Less for the "footballers", fed on TV rights.

However, Comolli had already tried to obtain a derogation to accommodate more than 5,000 spectators at the opening of the season on Saturday against Dunkirk (0-1). In vain, because the prefect had explicitly indicated that he did not wish to touch this gauge… The president of the TFC, tenant of the Stadium (33,150 places) will try his luck again before the arrival of Sochaux, on September 14th. Stade Toulousain will do the same before the reception of La Rochelle on September 12 in Top 14 at Ernest-Wallon (19,000 seats).

How many people for Stade Toulousain - Ulster?

But the big shortfall on the Red and Black side could come from the quarter-final of the European Cup against the Irish from Ulster on September 20, scheduled to be "relocated" to a Stadium which would have been closed without the crisis. of the coronavirus. As for Colomiers, his debut in his precinct of Michel-Bendichou (7,400 spectators) is scheduled for September 11. So many dates likely to move in these uncertain times as the evolution of Covid-19.

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  • Toulouse
  • Covid 19
  • TFC
  • Coronavirus
  • Rugby
  • Toulouse stadium
  • Colomiers
  • Soccer
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