The Tours-Lorient match could not be played on Saturday for security reasons.
“The prefecture of Indre et Loire and the Town Hall of Tours noted that FC Tours was not able to put in place a system to guarantee that the match would take place in terms of welcoming the public.” The sanction fell like a chopping block following this press release from the FFF on Saturday afternoon: no 32nd final of the Coupe de France in the Stade de la Vallée du Cher.
“We will later shed light on what was missing to organize this match. We can simply inform you that we have entered into a contract with a private security company and that all funds were ordered by transfer before the match as was required of us by the service provider”, estimated the president of Tours Ivan Desmet on Saturday evening.
A cancellation which went very badly on the Tours side. “It’s a lot of frustration,” said coach Bryan Bergougnoux on RMC. “I was lucky enough to experience this kind of atmosphere, I think a lot about my players who make enormous sacrifices. They sometimes tried to put pressure on management in relation to all that. I was able to dissuade them because it would have given a bad image. Going on strike in football is always badly received. They said nothing, they continued to work and today they are deprived of a match which would have been unique. for them in their lives. I'm very angry.”
“Failure of the organizing club”
According to La Nouvelle République, a first security system proposed by the club had been validated by the Prefecture of Indre-et-Loire. But, still according to the daily, Hacene Haddad, close to the president, intervened a posteriori to review the organization of the security personnel. This second version, this time refused by the authorities, would have created confusion. The club would have tried, at the last moment, to backpedal to return to its initial system, without success.
There was little doubt about what happened next: this Monday, the Federal Commission made its decision concerning the match and “retained the responsibility of the Tours club. The cancellation of the match is the direct consequence of a failure of the organizing club in terms of welcoming the public.”
“The match was lost by penalty to Tours FC. Consequently, FC Lorient is qualified for the round of 16, scheduled for Wednesday January 15, 2025, and will travel to Cannes (N2).”
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