The Council of State rejected this Friday the appeals of Lyon, Amiens, Ajaccio, Troyes and Clermont against the premature end of the seasons of L 1 and L 2, decided last April in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
These appeals had been introduced by Lyon, which considered itself unfairly deprived of the European Cup after the premature end of Ligue 1, by Amiens, deprived of a chance of remaining in the elite and Ajaccio, Troyes and Clermont, deprived of access playoffs in L 1.
"The surplus of the conclusions at the end of the decision of April 30, 2020 of the Board of Directors of the Professional Football League and the conclusions of the requests for the cancellation of the decisions of June 23, 2020 of the General Assembly of the LFP, of June 26, 2020 of the Federal Assembly of the French Football Federation and of June 26, 2020 of the Board of Directors of the LFP are rejected ”, indicated the highest French administrative body.
73% of matches played ...
The Council of State explained with regard to the decision of April 30 to prematurely end the season in the context of a health emergency that "the Board of Directors of the LFP could legally consider that it was appropriate to derogate from the regulations. championships that the League organizes by interrupting the competitions before the normal end of the season ”.
He also underlined that the decision to stop the classification after 73% of the matches of the season played (that is to say 28 days practically finished), “is not marred by manifest error of appreciation, including with regard to the objective of fairness and integrity of sports competitions ”, while recognizing that“ other solutions were possible ”.
Regarding the absence of playoffs for accession to L 1, "it does not appear that the League would have made a manifestly erroneous assessment," notes the Council of State.
The body also stressed about the appeal of Olympique Lyonnais, 7th at the time of the stoppage of L 1 and very virulent in its opposition to the decisions taken by the LFP and the FFF, that "contrary to what is supported, the allegation according to which this choice would have been motivated by the desire to penalize the club of Olympique Lyonnais is not established ”.
"Pursue exclusively its claim for compensation against the Professional Football League"
The Lyon club interpreted this decision in its own way by affirming in a press release that "The Council of State confirms the responsibility of the Board of Directors of the Professional Football League in stopping the championship on April 30, 2020. It recalls that this decision to definitively interrupt the championship was indeed taken by the Board of Directors of the LFP, and not by the State.
Olympique Lyonnais therefore confirms its willingness to pursue exclusively its claim for compensation against the Professional Football League.
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Jean-Michel Aulas' club believes “that he was thus deprived of a possible participation in the European Cup with this decision to stop the championship on the 28th day.
The club were on 23 consecutive qualifiers and advanced to the Champions League semi-final in August.
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He then noted that “almost all European matches have been able to resume with adaptations and without interruption, as UEFA has done for the Champions League and the Europa League.
Likewise, the Ligue 1 championship could also have been brought to an end, like what happened in most European championships and in particular in the big four: Germany, Italy, England and Spain. .
He finally concludes that “the final of the Coupe de la Ligue was played on July 31, without the LFP opposing a decision to the contrary.
And the final of the Coupe de France had already taken place on July 24 without anyone being moved.
In the context of the second wave, one can also wonder: why does the LFP not stop the championship again as it already did in April?
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