An unprecedented context, Covid-19 obliges
The Coupe de France is the popular competition par excellence.
The one where the inhabitants of local villages gather and dream of an epic for the local amateur club.
This year, the Maujouan stadium in Gasset, home of the Élan de Gorges which hosts the Sablé FC on Sunday, will welcome as many spectators as the Groupama Stadium on Tuesday for Lyon-AC Ajaccio: zero, health crisis requires.
Wearing a mask is "compulsory inside the stadium for all except for players, coaches and referees during warm-up and during the match," said the French Football Federation (FFF) in a statement.
In addition, the “designation of a Covid referent” is imposed within each club.
The coronavirus epidemic has disrupted French professional football, and even paralyzed amateurs, deprived of training during the second confinement (see below).
As is the case in Ligue 1 or Ligue 2, club members must undergo screening tests before each meeting.
PSG's victory against Saint-Étienne in the Coupe de France final on July 24, 2020 (1-0)
Lack of training and packages: amateurs cannot digest
With the reconfinement decided by the government on October 30, amateur football competitions and the Coupe de France came to a halt.
Training also, until the end of confinement on December 15.
The amateur clubs were then able to train, but with "the exclusion of contacts between practitioners", specifies the FFF.
Then on January 19, the Federation "confirmed the participation of amateur clubs" in the 2020-21 edition of the Coupe de France.
"When it's been weeks, months that you haven't trained, you can't prepare for a competition in 10 days", railed Manu Imorou, former Ligue 1 player in Caen and today at Thonon Évian Grand Genève FC (National 3) for the
Ultimo Diez
site
.
"We preferred to forfeit the health of our players," lamented David Lottin, co-president of FC Flers, Regional 1 club. Of the 248 teams engaged on the weekend of January 30 and 31, 8 preferred to throw the sponge.
A new format to adapt
As every year in the Coupe de France, Ligue 1 clubs enter the competition from the 32nd of finals.
But this time, they will not cross paths with an amateur team before the round of 16.
The FFF has adopted a new format with two paths: one for L1 and L2 clubs, the other for “other clubs”.
The two routes will meet in early March for the round of 16 with 15 professional clubs and 17 amateur clubs still in the running.
The goal: to avoid a match between an L1 or L2 ogre who already plays every week and a Little Thumb who lacks rhythm.
This is why five matches in these round of 16 will oppose two Ligue 1 teams, like Angers (8th) against Rennes (5th) on Thursday at 9 p.m.
The programming of the 32nd Finals of the Coupe de France (channel L1 / L2)!
RDV Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 February pic.twitter.com/0XbBQ71Kp3
- Coupe de France (@coupedefrance) January 23, 2021
The Coupe de la Ligue no longer exists
For the first time since the 1993-94 season, the Coupe de France will be the only cup for which French clubs will fight fiercely.
On July 31, 2020, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Olympique Lyonnais at the Stade de France (0-0, 6-5 on penalties) to lift the last League Cup in history.
What to give a slight renewal of interest in the Coupe de France, at least in the eyes of the professional clubs which were the only ones to participate in the two competitions.
For amateurs, that doesn't change anything.
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