Paris: The fate of French clubs Amiens and Toulouse has finally been decided.
The General Assembly of French Professional Football (LFP) voted on Tuesday to maintain a 20-team format Ligue 1 next season, casting off the proposal to expand the league to 22 clubs ,which meant that Amiens and Toulouse’s hopes of staying in the top flight was trashed.
“This vote came after an in-depth examination of the sports challenges of Ligue 1 having 20, 21 or 22 clubs on the 2020/2021 competition calendar and the consequences on the players’ health,” a statement from LFP said. “This review also focused on the financial impacts, the distribution of audiovisual rights as well as the contractual repercussions with Ligue 1 broadcasters.”
The governing body of French top two football leagues said that “a majority of 74.49% of the votes” favored a 20-team Ligue 1 in the upcoming season, which was reportedly set to kick off on August 23.
Toulouse collected only 13 points when the season was suspended in mid-March, 10 behind closest rivals Amiens who were four behind the safety zone. The LFP announced on April 30 that it would call off the current football season and confirmed the relegation of the bottom two sides Amiens and Toulouse.
The two clubs, as expected, were irritated by the decision and both of them turned to legal actions to pursue a turnover of the relegations. The Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country, on June 9 validated the league’s decision to cancel the rest of the season, but suspended relegating Amiens and Toulouse, ordering the LFP, together with French Football Federation, to re-examine the format of Ligue 1 for the next season.
However, expanding the league to 22 teams didn’t seem to be in line with the interests of the majorities of the stakeholders, as the vote implied. For Amiens and Toulouse, relegating to Ligue 2 should mean millions of euros in terms of economic loss, which will be another blow for the teams who have already been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The champions of Ligue 2 Lorient and second-placed Lens will replace them in the top flight next season. (Xinhua)
