Since Tuesday, amateur footballers still concerned by the Coupe de France know that a match awaits them at the end of January, that their nostrils will cross swabs and that the “beautiful party” of the Coupe de France will finally be organized in a hurry in a monumental blur. Yesterday, the clubs contacted were still unaware of whether they could benefit from a dispensation to train at night, while ES Villerupt-Thil purely and simply wondered about the relevance of playing his “gala match” against Sedan. Perspective divides internally.
“We will make the decision on Thursday,” explains sporting director Roland Ciro. “For us, it was a big surprise on Tuesday. We did not think it was serious… The announcement gave rise to passionate but respectful discussions at the committee level. The position of the staff and the players is that we want to play and represent the club in this dream poster, but not under these conditions… ”And for good reason: Sedan, resident of N2, will arrive with the additional advantage of solid preparation. Equity is simply trampled on. Not to mention an organization to tie up in a hurry.
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“It’s a masquerade! “
Taken aback, like everyone else, Farid Nefnaf rants: “It’s a masquerade”, denounces the coach of Rosselange-Vitry. “We do not respect the amateurs who have succeeded from exploit to exploit to reach the 6e tower. I am unpleasantly surprised and disappointed with the decision of the FFF. Ten days of preparation, we’ve never seen it before to resume a competition! By January 31, given the professional activities of the players, we will have a maximum of four training sessions. Ask Frédéric Antonetti and the pros if this is enough to resume after three months of confinement! “
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“For the charm and the craze, it’s over”
His opponent from ASPSF Thionville is just as puzzled. “I was already against the closure of sports facilities,” recalls President Vittorino Da Rocha. “It could be a bit of a mess to have 40 people tested before the match… We’re going to play anyway, but for the charm of the Cup and the excitement, it’s over. There will be no refreshment bar or spectators and we cannot even play friendly matches! We wanted to go far in this event but frankly, if we get kicked out, it’s not bad. “
Seen from Valmont finally, Brice Moy, coach and player, “initially thought it was a joke”. “Until now, we trained a little on weekends, without contact, to meet each other. There, we had to organize ourselves to test the players on Wednesday, Saturday and the Friday preceding the match (against Soleil Bischheim). For once, we will be in full force and everyone is very happy to play again, but the training sessions will be a bit folkloric to organize. Today (Wednesday), we still had 19 cm of snow on the ground. “
This last parameter is not superfluous. If the virus has not had its last word, neither has the weather.
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