She’s an old lady. Centenary. A competition that has known dozens of crises. The Covid-19, which attacks seniors, will he be right in the Coupe de France, 104 years on the clock? The French Football Federation presented last week its plan to save the 2020-2021 edition not without a few accommodations with the DNA of the most beautiful of events: professionals and amateurs will only meet in 16is final, if all goes well. Until then, the pros will face each other – help, the Coupe de la Ligue is back! – and amateurs will play on their side in sort of regional hens. But promised, it is to “sanctify” the Coupe de France if containment measures were put in place by the government.
“Sanctuarize”, the word will make people smile as the authorities of French football have stepped on this competition for many years. Too popular and too dangerous for professional clubs. The demolition business began when matches were no longer played on weekends – except for the 32is final. Drowned in the middle of the week, the Coupe de France has lost its flavor, its interest. No wonder TF1 has abandoned the rights to a competition that no longer has a full audience – except the 32is and, of course, the finale. This family meeting where we support David against Goliath is not intended to be lost on a Wednesday at 6 pm between two days of the championship. The height was reached in 2018 when the final between PSG and Les Herbiers (2-0) was played on Tuesday, May 8… A fortunately unique experience.
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Royal Road
For a long time, priority was given to the League Cup, a financial windfall for the clubs, which allowed in four matches to win the European Grail. Or rather: which allowed Paris Saint-Germain to fill its trophy cabinet and trumpet “the quadruplet” to better erase the continental disappointments. A trophy of little interest that bored players and fans. The end of the Mustache Cup (in ironic tribute to Frédéric Thiriez, its instigator) opens a royal road for the dean to redo the cherry. Establish more meetings on weekends and give back his place as a European to the unhappy finalist – if the winner has already obtained his ticket in the European Cup by way of the championship – these are axes that would rehabilitate a sleeping beauty. In a football denatured by the VAR, the five changes and soon a closed League, the Coupe de France remains this memory of the world before that must be protected. Hoping that the Covid-19 spares him …
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