DBasia.news – The president of the French football federation (FFF) Noel Le Graet mediated the debate between Olympique Lyon and Marseille regarding the continuation of the French League amid the outbreak of the global pandemic COVID-19.
“I asked them to calm down and maintain their respective dignity,” Le Graet told TF1 television station on Sunday.
The French League is currently suspended until an undetermined time with 10 matches remaining, except Paris Saint-Germain and Strasbourg, which has one saving match.
Responding to these conditions, Lyon president, Jean-Michel Aulas, proposed that the 2019/20 season be stopped and the results of the matches that had been taken would be considered invalid, while the determination of France’s representatives in European competition used the results of last season.
The comments came from Aulas, whose club is currently held in seventh place with nine points from the European zone, but is still struggling in the top 16 of the Champions League.
Marseille President, Jacques-Henri Eyraud, responded strongly to Aulas’s remarks which he called opportunists.
“When the fever goes down, Jean-Michel Aulas will realize his opportunistic steps and immediately return to the values that make him a great football club manager,” Eyraud told Le Journal du Dimanche.
Marseille is not in the Champions League this season, but is second in the French league standings with a six-point advantage over Rennes in third place.
Eyraud’s comments were reiterated by Aulas through his personal twitter account with an attacking tone.
“The good news for you and your subordinates is that ridiculousness is no more deadly than the corona virus,” Aulas tweeted through his account, @JM_Aulas, while quoting Eyraud’s commentary.
According to Le Graet both Aulas and Eyraud do not have great authority over how best to deal with the pandemic conditions that currently not only overshadows the French League, but many sporting events in the world.
“The FFF is the only one who has the right to make the decisions. Don’t waste your energy, let alone act silly,” Le Graet stated.
“Today we are all struggling against the
virus. How can others even argue about who has the right to play in Europe?
That’s absurd,” he concluded.