The reunion between FC Lorient coach Olivier Pantaloni and his former player at Tours Bryan Bergougnoux, today at the head of the Regional 1 team, will wait. “The prefecture of Indre-et-Loire and the City of Tours noted that Tours FC was not able to put in place a system to guarantee the holding of the match in terms of welcoming the public,” explains the press release from the French Football Federation (FFF) announcing the cancellation of the match, less than five hours before kick-off, scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Vallée du Cher stadium.
Not enough security guards or volunteers
“I’ve never seen that!” », Reacts to Télégramme a well-informed source at the FFF. “There were several meetings on Friday with all the stakeholders and the Federation had taken the measure to limit the number of people at the stadium so that the Tours club had fewer security agents to find, by limiting the gauge to 4 000 people, i.e. the number of tickets already sold. Except that 6,000 to 7,000 spectators were ultimately expected and the host club did not manage to bring together enough agents or volunteers to adapt the system.
According to our colleagues from La Nouvelle République, Tours FC, which considered the estimate too high, wanted to review the system, which was nevertheless validated by the Indre-et-Loire prefecture a few days before the match. Administratively demoted to R1 by the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), in July 2024, after a sporting-financial decline of several years, Tours FC still seems to be in financial difficulty. The liquidation of the limited company was pronounced in June, suspended in July and must be confirmed or canceled by the commercial court in January, on appeal.
Lorient qualified on the green carpet?
A new device “cobbled together in an emergency”, in the words of coach Bryan Bergougnoux, who barely concealed his anger at the microphone of RMC on Saturday afternoon: “I think a lot about my players, who since the start of the season have done enormous sacrifices and work in conditions which will be brought to light quite quickly. They are being deprived of a match that would have been unique in their lives. One of my players was in tears.”
Reached by telephone on Saturday at the start of the afternoon, just before getting back on the return bus, earlier than expected, his FC Lorient counterpart Olivier Pantaloni was torn between the sadness of seeing his former club (from July 2013 to October 2014) in this situation and the relief of not playing this trap match, with the prospect of spending this round on the green carpet. “I don’t see how the match could be postponed.” On the FFF side too, the decision of the Organizing Commission of the Coupe de France left little doubt: “Everyone tried to ensure that the match took place, and Tours FC did not succeed to bring together all the elements he had promised in the security committee. They do not have the means to ensure the security of the match. »
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