There will have been no miracle for Tours. Judged guilty of the cancellation of its 32nd round of the Coupe de France by the French Football Federation (FFF), the Touraine club was officially eliminated from the competition on the green carpet.
Meeting this Monday, December 23, the federal commission for the Coupe de France “held the Tours club responsible. The cancellation of the meeting is the direct consequence of a failure by the organizing club in terms of welcoming the public. » The match was lost by penalty to Tours FC.
“I am very angry”
According to La Nouvelle République, the club had presented an initial 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.
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. »
The sentence finally fell this Monday morning. Consequently, FC Lorient is qualified for the round of 16, scheduled for Wednesday January 15, 2025, and will travel to Cannes (N2).