Lyon, Amiens, Toulouse without counting more than 3500 amateur clubs… After the decisions of the Professional Football League (LFP) and the French Federation (FFF) to stop the championships, many clubs intend to launch legal remedies . "On the form, the decisions are not contestable, explains Me Thierry Granturco, specialist in sports law. But basically, yes. There is reason to argue. "
Masters Arnaud Péricard and Jérémie Delattre of the firm CPC et Associés thus estimate that “the rules of the LFP provide for 38 games, that in terms of sports equity, there were points to be distributed with different opponents, that the championship would have could continue in August and that the LFP could have modulated the scope of its decision with a championship at 22 and without relegation. "
But in court, the chances are minimal. On May 20, there is no chance that the general assembly of the League will change the decision to stop the championship.
The decisions will not be canceled. "Whether they like it or not, Lyon and Jean-Michel Aulas are 7th and Amiens in Ligue 2. The championship is over and will not resume," immediately poses Thierry Granturco. For him, the internal appeals before the commissions of the FFF and LFP are "doomed to failure". If the clubs can then request mediation from the CNOSF, the outcome may also be the same. "There was no formal defect and even if the opinion is negative, the FFF and the LFP will not follow it", says the lawyer who does not believe either a turnaround with the Administrative Court of Paris. “The jurisprudence shows that in 90% of the cases, it follows the federations and the Leagues. "
The appeal to the Council of State, then, may take time. "It will be necessary to request a suspension order to suspend the classification by demonstrating the urgency, it is the case, and the serious doubt as for the legality of the decision", estimate Arnaud Péricard and Jérémie Delattre. "When the LFP and the FFF want to impose a decision, they drag things out, the timing is favorable to them," says Granturco.
Damages requested . The lawyers of the clubs will base their arguments on two elements: the date of decision-making (April 30 for the pros) and "the loss of luck". "The LFP and the FFF will plead force majeure and the general interest because there has been unanimity from the government to the Ministry of Sports through them, resumes Thierry Granturco. But it is complicated to stand behind force majeure from April 30, while at the same time, all European neighbors are still looking for solutions to resume. The consequences are financial with a loss of resources and sports, because the clubs are deprived of playing their chance until the end to reach the European Cup, to maintain themselves or to climb. These are easy facts to prove. "
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Arnaud Péricard and Jérémie Delattre believe that “a possible appeal against the State seems complicated in the light of the state of health emergency. Either through attacking the legality of acts taken by the government, or by filing compensation claims against the State because of the harmful consequences of its acts. But whatever the case, the repairs can only be financial. For Lyon, this could amount to several tens of millions of euros but it will not be, for now. "We can count on compensation at N + 2 or N + 3", considers Thierry Granturco whose cabinet is "over-solicited" by the clubs at the moment.
"The financial consequences are less but there is a lot of suffering among amateurs," concludes the lawyer. Clubs which finished 1st were prevented from going up. It is brutal and sportingly unacceptable. Many find it difficult to accept the current attitude of Jean-Michel Aulas. Because he also sits on the comex of the FFF, and when it was necessary to make such decisions for amateurs, he did so without scruples and moods. "
