It is not only Ligue 1 that is worried about its recovery. “We have a club in isolation, one which has suspended its training and another which had to cancel an internship, lists this club president of Top 14. And there is still a lot of time before the first match …” just under a month from the weekend of the first elite matches on September 4, 5 and 6, French rugby is once again tormented by the Covid-19. The affected clubs are called Stade Français, Montpellier and Lyon.
The first was forced to place its entire workforce in quarantine in the wake of a wave of cases reported after an internship in Nice. The Héraultais announced Monday to suspend their collective training pending the results of the tests carried out on their first team after the companion of one of the players attended a patient. Finally, the Lyonnais could not resume the classic sessions until this Monday after having had to cancel an internship and have trained in small groups because of three cases of Covid-19 in their group.
An arrangement of the sessions imposed by the medical protocol of the National Rugby League (LNR). For now, the clubs are obliged to respect it for two weeks. Despite this, Stade Français still intends to play its friendly match against Toulon on the 27th. Contacted, the Var club simply let it be known that the meeting was maintained for the moment. For its part, the medical committee of the League is holding a meeting with two infectious diseases specialists on Wednesday to possibly modify this protocol.
“The players must be in a bubble with their families”
Proof of the concern of the community, the LNR organized a moment of exchange with the doctors and representatives of the staffs of the Top 14 and Pro D2 clubs. “They were asked to ensure that the players restrict contact with the outside world as much as possible,” explains the chairman of the League’s medical committee, Bernard Dusfour. We stop the commando courses with the Raid or the firefighters, we cancel the exchanges with the partners. They need to be in a bubble with their families as much as possible to limit the risk of spread. “
“We did what we could, but there is no such thing as zero risk,” explains Thomas Lombard, general manager of Stade Français. We meet people, we go shopping, we live with our families … And, then, we are in Paris, an area where there are greater risks of contracting Covid-19 according to the health authorities. That said, the Covid-19 is not only disrupting the numbers of French clubs, but also their finances. This Tuesday, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the extension until October 30 – after a quarter of the Top 14 matches – of the ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people, unless the prefects waived.
A sledgehammer for many Top 14 presidents, on average 60% of the profits are linked to ticketing. “The worst is uncertainty, plague this leader. We do not know how we will be able to finish this championship given how everything is constantly changing. But, well, let’s try to start it already… ”
