According to the calculations of the LNR, the thirty French professional clubs could lose between 30 and 35 million euros during the first two months of the championship, if the gauge of 5,000 spectators was maintained.
In what state of mind are you ten days before the return of rugby?
Paul Goze: We are extremely mobilized and determined to do everything so that the matches can start again but also worried about the health crisis. We know that this season will not be quite like the previous ones. There is a strong desire to resume after six months without rugby. We are very focused on all the measures to be taken so that the matches can take place in the best possible conditions, in the safety of the players and the public.
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The protocol, validated on Tuesday, favors the postponement rather than a package ...
Our main idea is that the matches are played. At this stage, there is no need to cancel matches, to take irreversible decisions. We assume that the matches will be able to be played. There is no need to penalize a team that could not play because of infected players. To lose the match to a team in this case would be to admit that it is at fault. If at the end of a month, we should notice that the postponements accumulate and that there is a traffic jam in the championship, at that time, we will make a decision that may be more restrictive. But this is not topical.
Can it go up to a package?
When matches cannot be played, solutions have to be found. If we are no longer in the postponement, we will have to look at the side of the regulations: it goes from a draw, as at the World Cup in Japan (due to a typhoon, Editor's note), to a lost match ... a device that we must study but which is premature today. We need a succession of postponements to “embolize” our championship.
"We hope to be able to obtain, in areas a little less affected, exemptions which allow us to have a larger gauge"
How do you react to the government announcements this morning?
Until October 30, the stadiums will be limited to 5,000 spectators, except by dispensation from the prefects. We hope to be able to obtain, in areas a little less affected, exemptions that allow us to have a larger gauge. We will adapt but we are working with the public authorities to obtain massive support because the gauge leads to financial difficulties. If we do not want to have clubs that have to stop for financial problems, the government has to take action.
What is the impact of a 5,000-person gauge?
Over the first two months, or the first six matches, this financial loss for all Top 14 and Pro D2 clubs was estimated at between 30 and 35 million euros. It is a significant sum. Our clubs are in peril, we must prevent them from not being able to continue, after a few months, if the gauge was maintained.
“The gauge is a financial handicap for clubs. None will be able to resist it for several months ”
What did you ask the state?
An exemption from charges between June and November, which would correspond to the 30 to 35 million mentioned. The file is progressing little by little. We hope that it will come to an end quickly to reassure the clubs and ensure that the championship takes place in a certain serenity. Let's imagine that on November 1, the situation gets better, then we will have another discussion. If it is worse, we will ask the public authorities for support for the following period.
Are you confident?
The gauge is a financial handicap for clubs. None will be able to resist it for several months. Without help, there could be the disappearance of clubs and the professional championship. I don't think the government is in this state of mind three years before the World Cup in France. We cannot imagine that it takes place in a country where half of the professional clubs have disappeared after the pandemic.
November tour: the clubs have made "a sufficiently substantial effort", according to Goze
Five or six international matches in the fall? A group of 42 players for the XV of France? The proposal of professional clubs to go from three to five matches "is a sufficiently substantial effort", said Wednesday the president of the LNR Paul Goze to AFP. French clubs have indeed declared themselves willing to extend the international window, disrupted by the pandemic, to bring it to five dates over five weeks, one less than the French Rugby Federation (FFR) wishes. “We are on our positions and we are waiting for the Federation to eventually make proposals on how it sees the problem. We are extremely firm on this proposal: we estimate that three to five matches is a sufficiently substantial effort. Especially in the current context, it is not possible for the clubs to make more effort, ”Goze told AFP. “We are in solidarity with international rugby, but we cannot be in solidarity by scuttling ourselves. We made a very important effort at a very difficult time, I think that is the maximum. We are waiting to start a discussion with the Federation ”, he also confided.
Initially, the XV of France was to play three matches in November but World Rugby doubled the window of the autumn tests at the end of July: result, the Blues could play six matches between October 24 and December 6, which would make it possible to bail out in part of a cash flow undermined by the health crisis, but would deprive the clubs of their internationals. “We are waiting for the Federation to come back to us with a proposal. We made our own. Five weeks, five matches. I think the Federation will come back to us, because there are two things to settle: the number of matches but also the availability. The number of matches does not regulate the number of players who are made available during international periods, ”continued the president of the LNR. “All this must be negotiated according to the agreement between the FFR and the LNR. We are therefore waiting for the Federation to come back to us with its proposal and, from there, we will negotiate, if necessary ”, he assured.
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