This will undoubtedly be the very first event affected by this famous gauge of 5000 spectators outdoors.
The round of 16 of the French Football Cup between the Vannes club and PSG on January 3 will have to be played in front of a small audience due to the new restrictive measures announced this Monday evening by the government.
For the Breton president of the Vannes Olympique Club (VOC), this is necessarily a "disappointment", even if it is not a surprise. Questioned by phone just after the intervention of Jean Castex, Maxime Ray regrets having to lose 1600 spectators for this "big party" scheduled for next Monday from 9:10 pm (France 3 and Eurosport). "We had already had to sacrifice 3,000 seats in the stadium to install a visitor parking lot and accommodate 500 PSG supporters
(9,600 seats in normal times)
", he laments. This new reduction in capacity represents, according to him, "a loss of around 50,000 euros".
🏟🏆 We are delighted to announce that the match of the 16th finals of the Coupe de France 🆚 the @PSG_inside will take place at the Stade de la Rabine, in Vannes.
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏, 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒆 😍 pic.twitter.com/129s6I17PM
- Vannes Olympique Club (@VOC_officiel) December 23, 2021
The Breton club fought to play at home
Even if he knows that one day, he avoided such a fate, the leader of the National 2 club is delighted to "be able to play in front of the public".
It must be said that all the management and himself fought with the French Football Federation to avoid ending up at Moustoir, at the neighbor of Lorient, or even going to play at the Parc des Princes, in Paris.
PSG, according to Ouest-France, had indeed offered this alternative.
Read alsoVannes-PSG: "We are tackling a non-category pass, the equivalent of Alpe d'Huez," says the president of the VOC
It remains to prepare as well as possible for this logistical challenge at the Rabine stadium and to decide for the ticket office.
“What bothers me the most is that we had planned 3000 places for club licensees, sponsors etc.
And 3000 others for the general public, specifies Maxime Ray.
It is really something that I wanted, so that this festival is open to all Vannesians.
We already had commitments.
We will look for space where we can with a logic of sharing this event.
"
The round of 16 of the Coupe de France will take place from January 2 to 4, with a differentiated health protocol depending on the posters and the amateur or professional status of the teams.
