In the midst of a debate on the overloaded schedules and the hellish pace imposed on footballers, the Professional Football League (LFP) has apparently found nothing better to do than to propose to relocate a poster of L1 in China and targeted Monaco-Lyon next February. This operation, which nevertheless remains subject to a “waiver” by FIFA.
For a year now, the League has made its international development one of the lifelines of French professional football, while its international TV rights remain very low compared to other major European championships. The body hopes to make L1 the first European championship to relocate a regular season game abroad.
A logistical headache due to Covid-19
According to The team, the meeting could be relocated to Shanghai and OL President Jean-Michel Aulas discussed this last Saturday with Monegasque leader Oleg Petrov on the sidelines of the OL-ASM match (2-0). “This is an ambitious operation for the image of the L1 and its distribution”, enthuses Jean-Michel Aulas, quoted by the sports daily.
From a source close to one of the two clubs, it is nevertheless indicated that the conditions do not yet seem to be met and that certain logistical parameters will have to be seen, such as the organization of a trip to China against the backdrop of a pandemic or the need to fulfill the stadium to make the operation profitable.
The LFP wants to convince FIFA
In addition, the project remains subject to the agreement of FIFA, which in the past had already opposed similar plans of the Spanish La Liga, which tried unsuccessfully to organize a Girona-Barcelona match in Miami, then a Villarreal-Atlético Madrid meeting.
In 2020, the FIFA Stakeholders Committee had ruled by opposing official matches relocated to a foreign country (excluding Super Cups, such as the Champions Trophy in France), confirming the position of the international federation. But the LFP nevertheless hopes to serve as a laboratory and will take official steps to obtain an exceptional exemption.