The premature end of the 2019-2020 fiscal year made people unhappy on the side of Orleans (20th), theoretically condemned to the descent just like Le Mans (19th), relegated for a difference of goals less than Niort (18th).
At least that is what the classification, stopped ten days before the initial term, suggests. But those disappointed still hope to remain in the second division, boosted by a suggestion from the Professional Football League (LFP).
As soon as the championship stopped, the board of directors of the League indeed decided to “propose” to its General Assembly “to decide on the format of League 2 and on the number of ascents and descents between Ligue 2 and National” .
Armed with this statement, club leaders will campaign during the GA on May 20 for a Ligue 2 expanded to twenty-two clubs, against twenty currently, to save Le Mans and Orleans.
“I will defend the transition to 22 (clubs), so no automatic descent. Many of us will defend it, “says Pierre Ferracci, president of Paris FC.
Harmony
L2’s red lantern, a year after its accession, Le Mans has for the time being been content with cautious statements. The Sarthois club “believes that the decision to stop the championship is the wisest for everyone’s health and hopes for a just and united verdict”.
“Mutual aid and solidarity” is also the argument put forward by a Le Mans supporter who initiated a petition. “In these difficult times, let us stick together and not make two clubs and their supporters pay the price of an unfinished season,” he wrote.
Problem: the president of the FFF, Noël Le Graët, was hostile to a reform, defending with the regional daily The Telegram “The application of the rules” with “two descents and two climbs” in Ligue 2, in particular.
“Exceptional circumstances allow exceptions to be made. Noël Le Graët is not convinced because he wants there to be a certain harmony between the amateur and professional worlds, “notes Pierre Ferracci, without losing hope of” convincing him “.
“Fair and exciting”
At the top of the table, other clubs are also frustrated by the lack of a final sprint. This is the case of Ajaccio (3rd), Troyes (4th) and Clermont (5th), in a barrage position behind Lorient and Lens, the two teams promoted to L1.
“Why prevent a club third at a point from the second to play the play-offs? Especially since we are not asking to play them tomorrow, we could play four play-offs on July 15, “said ACA President Christian Leca in late April.
“There is plenty of time to reassess the health situation and to train, in accordance with government prescriptions, in small groups. We could also make a descent, three climbs, and a Ligue 1 to 22 clubs, “he said.
The lack of a jump-off also creaks teeth at Boulogne-sur-Mer, National’s third who claims the right to face the 18th of L2 (Niort) in return matches, in accordance with the regulations.
Feeling “not competent” to judge the decision to end the season or not, President Reinold Delattre believes, however, “that we can play a jump-off without difficulty at the same period as the Coupe de France, that is to say – say one month before the resumption of the championship, end of July or beginning of August ”.
“It would be fair and exciting and could give people pleasure,” insists the leader of the USBCO, also in favor of an enlarged Ligue 2: “It would be showing solidarity and getting out of this crisis from above.”
If this hypothesis has supporters, it could also falter for a question of big money. Because at twenty-two clubs, the share of the TV rights cake will be reduced for each. Conversely, who says more clubs says more matches, with ticket sales expected to increase …
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