One of the major debates surrounding French football in recent days concerns Paris Saint-Germain’s request to postpone their match against Lens, scheduled for Saturday, April 11th, as part of the 29th round of Ligue 1, because it falls between the two Champions League quarter-finals. Lens is opposed, as it would require a difficult adjustment. The Professional Football League (LFP) is expected to decide after further discussions this Thursday. In the meantime, following a very clear statement, Lens spoke to L’Equipe through its general manager, Benjamin Parrot.
Parrot: “If the LFP doesn’t defend Ligue 1, who will?”
First, to be clear, we have nothing against PSG; they are perfectly within their rights to make this request. But factually, PSG has chosen the Champions League, as has Canal+, its broadcaster. Now, if the LFP doesn’t defend Ligue 1, who will? If the league doesn’t defend continuity and respect for what Ligue 1 is all about, who will?
The fact that the LFP, the guarantor of the competition, can make changing decisions raises the question of sporting fairness. When we start the season, we have the tenth-largest budget; we build a squad and a strategy to compete in the league and the Coupe de France. The fact that the reigning European champions can still be involved in European competition in the spring is good news, but it’s not unpredictable. (…)
Parrot: “It’s not fair.”
When a match is rescheduled, normally both parties involved agree, like Nantes, who gave their consent (to move PSG-Nantes from March 15th to April 22nd). Here, we have a case where one of the parties involved can’t have a say. It’s one thing for PSG to request a postponement, but for the LFP to grant it at such an advanced stage of the season… Would this same debate even be happening if Paris had a 15-point lead? They might simply rotate their squad. (…)
The body meant to preserve the fairness of the Championship is saying: “Be careful, there’s another competition that’s very important for everyone. So you have to adapt.” We’ll take on the packed schedule, but without the same squad depth. It’s not fair.
We understand Lens’ position, which has valid arguments. Why should the Lens club adapt to the situation when the schedule is clearly set before the season and each club must work to prepare according to its ambitions? PSG is aiming for titles; it immediately stated its desire to win the Champions League again, so it needs to be prepared for that. The postponement might seem excessive.
However, this must be considered within the context of a very unusual season, for which PSG was unable to prepare. They are therefore trying to obtain some “help” for a successful European run, which would also be beneficial for French football. Similar to Strasbourg’s Europa League Conference quarter-final appearance, except that the request to postpone the match against Brest has received far less attention.
One of the problems, which we see again, is that this complex situation leads to the overly simplistic notion that PSG doesn’t care about Ligue 1 and that the LFP (French Professional Football League) is its puppet. Whereas the LFP is actually concerned with French football, which would greatly benefit in terms of image, revenue, and the UEFA coefficient (which determines European qualification places for each country).
And if Paris had no interest in the league, they could play the matches with a completely revamped squad. However, they prefer to focus on the league, without putting themselves at risk. Whether one agrees with this or not. Finally, regarding PSG not requesting a postponement with a 15-point lead, as Parrot suggests, this supports the idea that the club isn’t neglecting Ligue 1. And Lens, with a different league position, would likely not pose a problem either.
