In the minutes following the Prime Minister's announcement - "No contact sports, no team sports and no derogation for professional sport. The 2019-2020 season of professional sports, especially that of football, will not be able to resume ”-, some presidents of the Top 14 and Pro D2 had publicly mourned the end of the season in the form of shortened final stages from mid-August. An ultimately hasty conclusion. Because, soon after, the Minister of Sports made another speech.
Questioned by RMC Sport, Roxana Maracineanu reopened the door. “There will be no recovery before August. But, during this month of August, matches behind closed doors or with very few people can be held. A gauge which seems fixed at 5,000 spectators maximum. A measure that applies to football ... and rugby, subject to an unfavorable development of the health situation.
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The National Rugby League immediately rushed into the thin opening, recalling that its "privileged scenario" was therefore not yet completely buried. “The LNR Bureau took note of the measures specific to sporting events included in the deconfinement plan presented by the Prime Minister. (…) The Bureau will discuss with the presidents of the Top 14 and Pro D2 clubs, whose meeting is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, the impact of these principles on scenario 2 which provided for the organization of Final Phases at the end of August to close the 2019-20 season before the start of the 2020-2021 season. "
And to add, proof that the renouncement is not yet recorded, “the National Rugby League will present in the coming days to the Ministry of Sports its proposal for medical protocol, re-athletics, preparation and calendar for resumption of competitions. An NRL Steering Committee will be convened at the end of this process to fix the terms for the closure of the 2019-2020 season and the start of the 2020-2021 season. ”
It will be necessary to convince presidents, and players, more and more reluctant to the idea of replaying at the end of August
Namely a final phase or not; a champion, whether designated or not; a return to the stadiums in August, September or later. However, it will also convince increasingly reluctant presidents - not to mention the players - the idea of replaying in late August. Some, the president of Aviron Bayonnais at the head, even plead for a return on the lawns not before December or January. "It would be the wisest solution," said Philippe Tayeb.
If the health of the players is advanced as a priority, the economic aspect motivates the stubbornness of the NRL and its president, Paul Goze. In particular the prospect of receiving the 15 million euros in TV rights that Canal + has not paid (82 M € have already been, Editor's note). It is a given that for the majority of professional clubs, no longer playing matches in 2020, or playing them behind closed doors, would put them in great financial danger.
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"The clubs will be alive for the next four months: we haven't had any financial income since March," AFP Thomas Lombard, the director general of the Stade Français Paris, reminded AFP. There are certainly government aid measures but we still have charges that are starting to fall, starting with the salaries of players, administrative staff ... "The thirty professional clubs have also sent a letter, co-signed by the League and the FFR, to the President of the Republic, asking him to be received. The threat of bankruptcy looms if the professional championships could not resume without an audience before January 2021. They wish to obtain from Emmanuel Macron financial assistance to ensure their survival if such a scenario were to materialize.
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