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Volleyball: no French Cup final but a new controversy

2020-09-26T15:32:38.186Z


Finalist of the event, the Tours club decided to forfeit due to the lack of health insurance from the organizers.


Everything was planned.

“The room was ready, the changing rooms were disinfected, we had rented the LEDs and the blue-white-red carpet was laid,” lists Jean Azéma.

But at the end of the evening, Friday, the president of Toulouse learned that the final of the Coupe de France, which his club was to organize this Sunday, was definitively canceled.

The reason?

The "unilateral decision of the Tours club (

Editor's note: one of the two finalists with Poitiers

) not to move ”regrets the French Federation in a press release published this Saturday morning.

This weekend was to mark the return of professional men's volleyball to France after 6 months of hiatus due to the health crisis.

But the party turned to settling scores and controversy.

This last-minute cancellation is reminiscent of the fiasco of the French Women's Basketball Cup in Paris last week.

It casts doubt on the League A season which is due to start next Saturday.

🏐COMMUNIQUE🏐 - Coupe de France 2019 #tvb #toursvolleyball #volleyball #ffvolley #coupedefrance pic.twitter.com/nY9OsJ9dfK

- Tours Volley Ball (@ToursVolleyBall) September 26, 2020

How did we come to this situation?

Initially scheduled for March, then moved to this weekend, the final at 4 of the Coupe de France was to see Paris face Tours then Toulouse in Poitiers.

This format - semi-finals on Saturday, then final on Sunday - was abandoned Friday afternoon after the announcement of positive cases of Covid-19 among Toulouse and Parisians.

The organizers then propose to organize a final between the two remaining clubs.

A match that was to be broadcast on the L'Équipe channel and on Sport in France.

Friday was a long marathon for the organizers but until the end they thought they could organize this event.

Until the evening when, via a press release, Tours announces that it is withdrawing.

Obviously without warning the authorities.

"Neither we nor the Toulouse club have been warned", assures the Federation.

The press release by Yves Bouget, president of Tours and former president of the Federation - whose relations with the body are icy - is scathing and targets the inability of the FFVB "to ensure health security for clubs".

The club “cannot take responsibility for endangering the health of its players, staff and supporters.

»Especially Tours asks that the ARS (Regional Health Agency) gives its agreement for this match.

“But the ARS does not have to give its agreement, it is the Prefecture which decides and it had said that it was possible, regrets Jean Azéma.

The arguments do not hold.

We had submitted a strict protocol to the Prefecture which had accepted and we had even decided to play the match behind closed doors to avoid the slightest risk.

We do not understand these arguments.

"

The Toulouse club, which had received a delegation from the Federation to organize this Final Four, should deplore a loss of 20,000 to 25,000 euros.

"Volleyball is accused of not being publicized and for once it is broadcast decides to cancel the match, there are many misunderstandings and disappointments," laments a federal official.

"I am really sorry for the Toulouse club and our players wanted to play but if one of them was declared positive, we would have had to stay 7 days there, there were too many uncertainties, explains Pascal Foussard," sports director and manager of Tours.

Did this Coupe de France have any legitimacy in this context?

"

Press release relating to the cancellation of the Men's French Cup Final 4 which was to take place this weekend in Toulouse


>> https://t.co/fS6n4eyirP pic.twitter.com/OYXARCYGeN

- FFvolley (@FFvolley) September 26, 2020

And now ?

This event was to mark the return of men's volleyball to the courts after the long break due to the health crisis.

But above all he reminded everyone that the crisis was still very much alive and that the threat hung more than ever on the federal and professional championships.

Men's League A is due to start next weekend but positive cases are being reported at many clubs.

“We see that there are only bad signals, health situations and regulations change every day, we don't know what will become of us, worries Pascal Foussard.

We decided to make all our trips this season by bus to avoid taking risks by train or plane.

I am very worried about the season, the measures are more and more strict.

The postponed matches will be counted in spades.

We are in the red zone and we are limited to 1,000 spectators.

We have already forecast a drop of 15 to 20% of our partners but we hoped to be able to count on our ticket office.

If this is not the case, I don't know how we will do it… ”

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The solution would be to postpone the date of the resumption to avoid empty rooms and the risk of bankruptcy of the clubs. "Why not give yourself time to think? Why not imagine a recovery in November or even in January? continues the Touraine leader. The Federation and the League must come together, the club presidents must meet for the good of volleyball. There is a championship to be made and we must save volleyball which is more threatened than other sports due to the lack of TV rights. We must do everything to save our sport. "

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2020-09-26

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