Paris: Lyon hit out at the French football league (LFP) on Sunday for “suddenly” ending the Ligue 1 campaign, saying the decision could see the division slip further behind Europe’s top leagues and calling for it to be reversed.
The LFP ended the season last month with 10 rounds of matches unplayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, crowning Paris Saint-Germain champions and relegating the bottom two, Amiens and Toulouse.
Lyon, who have reached this season’s Champions League last 16, were left seventh in the standings and outside the European qualification places. “Today, it is not only about OL, but quite simply about the future of French football,” the seven-time champions said in a lengthy statement.
“There is still time, until May 25, to back off and avoid a huge rout for the French championship.” Lyon insisted they were not pushing so hard for a restart of the season for “OL’s exclusive interests” and claimed that French football could suffer short-term losses of 900 million euros.
“How can we fight with our foreign competitors who, in the vast majority, chose to wait cautiously to restart their championship?,” continued the statement. “How can we prevent the gap from widening further between French football and all the other major European countries?” Hew added. (AFP)
