Covid-19 – Football: the real puzzle of the new gauges in the stadiums

Another blow to the world of football. The deterioration of the health situation in France has led the executive to tighten the restrictions which have hit hard a sector already severely affected by the pandemic for nearly two years.

The maximum capacity of the stadiums will temporarily be (again) lowered to 5,000 people, like all large gatherings. In addition, “the consumption of food and drink will be prohibited in all sports facilities “, announced Jean Castex Monday evening. The refreshment stalls will therefore be forced to close their doors in the coming days. To make matters worse, the obligation to present a vaccination pass – if the latter is adopted by Parliament – will place an additional strain on clubs and their employees, including players.

Taken end to end, these measures generate a huge headache, especially from an economic standpoint. Thus, many gala meetings, initially planned as major popular festivals, will ultimately be largely supervised. This is for example the case of the round of 16 of the Coupe de France between Vannes and PSG. A few days away from welcoming the capital club to its La Rabine stadium, the president of the National 2 club expressed his “disappointment”. “We had already had to sacrifice 3,000 seats in the stadium to install a visitor parking lot and receive the 500 supporters of PSG”, laments Maxime Rey in the columns of the Parisian. In addition to these 3,000 seats, there is the new reduction of 1,600 seats to comply with the new gauge, i.e. nearly 50% of the capacity of the Rabine (9,600 seats). A loss that the president of the VOC estimates at 50,000 euros. “What bothers me the most is that we had planned […] 3000 places for the general public. It is really something that I wanted, so that this festival is open to all Vannetais “, he adds fatalistically.

Another region, same concerns. RC Lens, which was to host Lille in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France on January 4, asked their opponent and the French Football Federation to bring this meeting forward to January 2 to anticipate the return of the gauges, including the entry into force is scheduled for January 3. This request is made on behalf of the “equitable implementation of government decisions, through similar conditions for the organization of meetings”, the artesian club said in a statement. “Racing is fully aware of the constraints, in particular for the broadcasters and the preparation of the teams, linked to this reprogramming” eventual, he adds. As it stands, the North derby, which promised a boiling atmosphere at the Bollaert-Delelis stadium, would take place without (very) many supporters, unlike 14 of the 16 Coupe de France matches scheduled for next weekend. .

Beyond the next few days, the return of heavy restrictions in the stadiums comes in an already particularly difficult economic context for the majority of French football clubs. The losses of the latter have already been counted in tens of millions of euros since the start of the pandemic. Behind closed doors, reduced gauges and sanitary pass have been there … Several members of the elite, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne in the lead, are on the edge of the abyss. These prohibitive measures risk further aggravating the situation, even though the government has promised new compensation to compensate for the losses linked to the ticket office.

In addition, these announcements come at a particularly cruel timing for some, starting with Olympique Lyonnais. Already living a nightmarish season, marked by excesses between supporters and disappointing results, Jean-Michel Aulas’ club will have to play two of its biggest games of the year at home in front of a small audience. The Groupama Stadium (around 60,000 seats) should ring particularly empty for the shock against Paris Saint-Germain (January 9) and the derby against AS Saint-Etienne (January 21) even though these two matches were to be played at wickets closed. Same hard blow for Bordeaux, whose shock against Marseille (January 7) is traditionally one of the highlights of the season, or Lille which is to host Paris Saint-Germain on February 6.