Tuesday night, the 2019-2020 Top 14 season was not yet buried. If the words of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe were unambiguous, arguing that the current exercise "cannot be resumed", his Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, had opened another breach. “There will be no recovery before August. But, during this month of August, matches in camera or with very few people can be held, "she then said .
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A possibility that immediately reacted to the National Rugby League. A meeting was scheduled this Wednesday between the LNR and the club presidents to assess "the impact of these principles on scenario 2 which provided for the organization of final stages in late August to close the 2019-20 season before the start of the 2020-2021 season ”. And, according to RMC Sport and Rugbyrama , the decision was made on Wednesday to end the current season. No final stages, therefore, for French rugby. "There is no doubt about it," said someone close to the file cited by RMC . The decision should be formalized on Wednesday after a conference call between the Ministry of Sports, the League and the Federation. For the LNR, the assumption of a recovery was nevertheless vital, it allowed it to recover the last 15 million euros of TV rights that Canal + must pay it, 82 million euros having already been paid.
Serious financial difficulties
Stopped since the beginning of March, the Top 14 clubs find themselves facing serious financial difficulties. Their economic model is based less on television rights than for their football counterparts (20% of their budget against 60% in Ligue 1), while revenues from ticketing, hospitality and partnerships are preponderant. What Thomas Lombard, CEO of Stade Français Paris recalls: “The clubs will be alive for the next four months: we haven't had any financial income since March. There are certainly government aid measures but we still have charges that are starting to fall ... "
Many presidents, however, opposed a closed-door resumption. "This is the worst solution," insists with Midi Olympique Laurent Marti, the president of Bordeaux-Bègles, leader of the championship before stopping. "To speak only of UBB, partnership and ticketing weigh four times more than television reversals in our budget." For his counterpart at Stade Toulousain, Didier Lacroix, "behind closed doors, in Toulouse but also in other clubs, the current rugby does not last more than a month and a half, it is a certainty."
"Between the matches of the French team to catch up, the final stages of the European Cup, the summer tours that would not take place ... It will be a lot of matches to cram!"
Xavier GarbajosaWhat about the current season? "We are in the dark," confided to Midi Olympique Philippe Tayeb, president of Bayonne (9th in Top 14). I think the wisest solution would be to resume in December or January. ” Which would be, according to Paul Goze, president of the LNR, the worst scenario. Many questions are still pending and could be clarified on Thursday: will the title of champion of France be awarded? Which teams will play in the next European Cup? Will there be climbs and descents in Top 14 and Pro D2? So many points to settle quickly.
The most complete vagueness continues to remain because to these national problems, are added those concerning the international calendar, with the cancellation - not yet officialized - of the summer tour in Argentina and the possibility of having to take part in a super tour November with six games. Another concern summarized by Xavier Garbajosa, the manager of Montpellier: "Between the matches of the French team to catch up, the final stages of the European Cup, the summer tours that would not take place ... That will do a lot of matches to cram! "
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