It should have been a great sporting celebration for this former Ligue 2 club, sent to Regional 1 by several financial demotions in recent years. But Tours FC will not play their 32nd Coupe de France final on Saturday against Lorient, leader of L2. And it's his fault, according to the French Football Federation, which announced the cancellation of the match five hours before kickoff.
“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 the match was held in terms of welcoming the public. Consequently, the decision was taken in consultation with the stakeholders to cancel the meeting,” explains the FFF in a press release.
According to La Nouvelle République, the club had presented a first security system, validated by the authorities, to accommodate nearly 8,000 people at the Vallée-du-Cher stadium. But he, through a close friend of the Belgian owner Ivan Desmet, then put forward a second, less expensive version. An option rejected by the prefecture, which insisted on returning to the initial plan.
Alas, the leaders of the leader of his Regional 1 group were not able to bring together a sufficient number of security agents on time. If the meeting could have been played behind closed doors, the prefecture feared that this would lead to excesses around the stadium. The decision to cancel the meeting was finally made.
“Spectators are asked not to go to the Vallée-du-Cher stadium,” continues the FFF. The Organizing Commission of the Coupe de France will examine the follow-up to be given. » In its regulations for the event, the FFF recalls that the hosting club “bears material responsibility for the match, involving the management of the logistics and progress of the match and assumes full responsibility in the event of deficiency or negligence “.
Questioned by RMC after the FFF's decision, the team's coach Bryan Bergougnoux attacked his leaders. “I am very angry. We were happy to have eight balloons today donated by the FFF. We've been training with deflated balls for weeks. Officials will have to give explanations, the ex-Lyon striker gets annoyed. Lost match? There's a good chance. »
“We must not deceive ourselves. When we are not able to host such an event, we are not part of the project, he continues. It's deplorable. We must ask the question to the leaders. We focused on sports. It is the work of a staff that is destroyed, the work of players with an exceptional mentality. We need to ask those concerned. My anger is immense, but I am not responsible for the financier. »
The judicial liquidation of Tours FC was pronounced at the end of June by the Tours commercial court, but was suspended after the commitment of new owner Ivan Desmet. The Orléans commercial court must rule on appeal on this decision in January.
