For the second consecutive season, French football is shaking up its programming a little at the start of May. This Sunday, May 5, while seven Ligue 1 matches are usually scheduled on the last day of the week (one at 1 p.m., four at 3 p.m., one at 5:5 p.m. and one at 8:45 p.m.), the lawns of Ligue 1 stadiums will be left at rest and the empty stands in homage to one of the greatest dramas in the history of French football, that of Furiani in 1992.
On May 5 of that year, SC Bastia hosted Olympique de Marseille in the semi-final of the Coupe de France in its Armand-Cesari stadium located in Furiani, a town of 6,000 inhabitants in the southern suburbs of Bastia. The collapse of a stadium stand a few minutes before kick-off left 18 dead and more than 2,000 injured. For years, the collective of victims of the Furiani tragedy fought for a “sacralization” of May 5.
In 2021, this fight is finally enshrined in law. Supported by Corsican MP Michel Castellani, the law of October 20, 2021 “aimed at freezing football matches on May 5” provides that in tribute to the victims of the tragedy, “no meeting or sporting event organized within the framework of or on the sidelines of the French professional football championships of the first and second divisions, the French Football Cup and the Champions Trophy will not be played on May 5. Regarding amateur football, “a minute of silence is observed” and “each player from both teams and the members of the refereeing body wear a black armband”.
The big poster for the 32nd day will be played Monday evening
If Ligue 2 is not impacted this year since it does not play on Sunday, Ligue 1 has therefore shaken up its programming a little and this season, the 32nd day will extend from Friday 3 to… Wednesday May 15, in due to the postponement of the matches of the two European semi-finalists, Paris and Marseille.
For the rest, two matches will be played this Friday evening (Toulouse-Montpellier at 7 p.m. and Lens-Lorient at 9 p.m.), compared to usually just one, four others this Saturday then a final one (Lille-Lyon) on Monday May 6. Naturally, the LFP indicates that it “anticipated this from the start of the season with the broadcasters with the definition of the different time slots”, without this posing any particular challenge.
Before the promulgation of the law, it had already happened that French football refrained from playing to pay tribute to the victims of Furiani, as in 2012 for the 20th anniversary of the disaster or in 2018, following a decision by the LFP. If this law sets in stone the sanctification of May 5, it is obviously not likely to have effects on the scheduling of Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 matches every year. Since 2021 and between now and 2040, eight years are affected by a May 5th which falls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday: this was already the case in 2023, it is the case again in 2024, and it will be the case in 2028 , 2029, 2030, 2034, 2035 and 2040.
