Six matches are usually scheduled each day of Ligue 1, on Sunday, sharing the 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:05 p.m. and 9 p.m. slots. But not this week! Absent from Sunday meetings, Stade Brestois, FC Lorient and Stade Rennais will exceptionally play Friday and Saturday, this weekend, for the 32nd day of Ligue 1.
The Merlus will open the ball, with a trip to Lens, at 9 p.m., Friday May 3, 2024 (9 p.m.), while Rennes will go to Metz, Saturday (7 p.m.) and Brest will receive Nantes, two hours later (21 h). The championship day will conclude with Lille – Lyon… Monday, at 9 p.m. An adjustment to the calendar due to a law, passed on October 20, 2021, and applied for the first time Friday May 5, 2023.
The first year when May 5 falls on a Sunday
Indeed, May 5 is the anniversary date of the disastrous tragedy of Furiani (Corsica), which occurred on May 5, 1992. That day, shortly before the Coupe de France semi-final match Bastia – Marseille, the upper part of A stand at the Furiani stadium caused the death of 19 people, with 2,300 injured. For many years, avenues were built for no football matches to take place on this date. Until a law is passed in October 2021, therefore. This modifies the Sports Code so that “no sporting meeting or event” takes place on May 5. A text which applies mainly to professionals, while amateur football is concerned by a minute of silence and a black armband.
But this law was only really applied for the first time in 2023, when May 5 fell on a Friday, a day on which, exceptionally, no matches were played. It is therefore the first time, since its official registration, that May 5 falls on a Sunday, the most footballing day of the week in France. But the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championships have adapted by playing Friday, Saturday and Monday. Even if the French second division, which already does not play on Sundays, is less concerned.
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