OGC Nice must face AS Saint-Etienne twice next week in the Ligue 1/Ligue 2 play-offs between the 16e elite club and the third in its antechamber. The matches are scheduled for Tuesday May 26 and Friday May 29, while this double confrontation was initially scheduled to take place on Thursday May 21 and Sunday May 24.
The Niçois’ status as finalist in the Coupe de France – against Lens last Friday at the Stade de France (3-1 victory for the Sang et Or) – forced this gap. A necessity of course for the Aiglons but also a potential blow. The clubs are supposed to make available to their selections all the players concerned by the World Cup from this Monday, May 25.
So here is the Riviera management engaged in talks with different nations. With a green light already acquired a priori for the Ivorian Elye Wahi and the Senegalese Antoine Mendy and Yehvann Diouf. The exchanges remaining uncertain, however, regarding the Algerian Hicham Boudaoui, the Ghanaian Kojo Peprah Oppong and the Tunisian Ali Abdi. A very uncomfortable situation for which the responsibility lies solely with the LFP according to the Gym.
Delicate yet predictable programming
In the eyes of Nice deputy vice-president Maurice Cohen, the OGCN indeed finds itself in a “position of extreme sporting, organizational and economic difficulty which results directly from the choice of calendar decided by LFP ”, and while “ the concomitance between the play-offs and the FIFA international window was perfectly predictable and identifiable for a long time
“.
Consequently, in a letter addressed to the boss of the League Vincent Labrune which Nice-Matin was able to consult, “ the club expressly reserves the right to initiate any useful procedure and to refer all competent courts, both national and international, in order to obtain full compensation for the damage suffered as a result of scheduling decisions made by the Professional Football League. »
