The clash of the 29th day between the Parisian leader and its runner-up has been postponed this Thursday on the decision of the LFP Board. The same goes for the match between Strasbourg and Brest.
“I’m not very optimistic!” Joseph Oughourlian, president of RC Lens, recently said. Rightly so. At the request of PSG and against the opinion of Racing, the LFP Board, “unanimously by all clubs involved,” decided to postpone the clash of the 29th day of Ligue 1 between the Parisian leader and the Lens runner-up.
The Lens-PSG clash was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 11th at 5 pm on beIN SPORTS, which falls between PSG’s matches against Liverpool in the Champions League quarterfinals on April 8th and 14th. With only six days between the two matches, PSG requested a change. “If we had played on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Champions League, we wouldn’t have asked to reschedule Lens-PSG,” explained Luis Campos on Wednesday on RMC. He also stated that “Liverpool cannot play on April 15th, which is a tragic date for the club (anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster).” The PSG sporting director emphasized the need to protect PSG’s interests, as well as those of France and its UEFA ranking, with the risk of losing the fifth place to Portugal.
Far from being a first, the Lens-PSG match will now take place on Wednesday, May 13th, between the 33rd and 34th day of Ligue 1, the only available date in the calendar, barring elimination of the capital club in the Champions League.
The LFP Board has the power to make such decisions to support French clubs’ European campaigns. The Board has granted requests in the past, not only for PSG but also for clubs like OM, Rennes, Lille, and Lyon. In this case, the Board also approved Strasbourg’s request to postpone their match against Brest to prepare for their Europa Conference League quarterfinal against Mainz. Unlike Lens, Brest agreed to reschedule their match. Paris had previously had PSG-Nantes postponed between their matches against Chelsea in the round of 16. The LFP explained that the decisions were made to allow Paris and Strasbourg to prepare adequately for their respective quarterfinals in the Champions League and Europa Conference League.
Vincent Labrune, President of the LFP, responded to the Lens president’s concerns by highlighting that other major European leagues do not make such arrangements because they have their Champions League spot secured, unlike French clubs who have to fight for it. The Lens club expressed dissatisfaction in adapting to the demands of the more powerful clubs but remains committed to fairness and respect for all stakeholders.
Context: The LFP Board’s decision to postpone the Lens-PSG match and reschedule other matches is due to the scheduling conflicts faced by French clubs in European competitions like the Champions League and Europa Conference League. These adjustments are made to enable French clubs to compete effectively in both domestic and European competitions.
Fact Check: The LFP Board’s authority to make these scheduling decisions is confirmed, and the reasons behind the rescheduling of matches are related to ensuring fair competition for French clubs in European tournaments.
