The postponement of the OM match, whose squad is affected by Covid, has resulted in some changes. Bordeaux-Nantes was brought forward to Friday, launching the new season, and Dijon-Angers goes from Sunday to Saturday.
Definitively stopped in March, the French Championship will resume on Friday, but with a revamped product for the new broadcaster Mediapro and its Téléfoot channel: rather than the classic OM-ASSE, it will be the “derby of the Atlantic”. Bordeaux and Nantes themselves announced the change of programming, almost 3 hours after the officialization by the Professional Football League (LFP) of the postponement of the poster initially planned. This change also leads to the advancement of another match, Dijon-Angers, which will be played on Saturday instead of Sunday.
“In view of the medical results transmitted by Olympique de Marseille this Tuesday, August 18, the national Covid commission indicates to the LFP Competitions Commission that the virus is circulating within the Marseille club”, which implies the postponement of the match , explained the LFP. The League had no choice but to change its mind three days before the kick-off of the 2020/21 exercise, Olympique de Marseille announcing on Tuesday three positive cases among its workforce, in addition from a previous contamination unveiled Thursday.
OM-Saint-Etienne postponed to September 16 or 17
According to the regional daily Provence, “It would be the Olympian goalkeeper Steve Mandanda and the two midfielders Maxime Lopez and Valentin Rongier”, information that the club has not confirmed or denied to AFP, in the name of medical confidentiality. Regarding the first case announced, the press delivered the name of Jordan Amavi, which the defender half-confirmed on social networks.
OM supporters will have to wait until Wednesday 16 or Thursday 17 September, the date set for the reception of Saint-Etienne, to see their heroes in L1 at the Vélodrome. This meeting comes between two shocks for the Marseillais, September 13 in Paris and the following weekend in Lille. If, however, the calendar is not changed again …
Still a doubt around Nîmes-Brest, Sunday
ASSE for its part had also revealed a new positive case in its workforce Friday, after the cancellation of a friendly match against Hertha Berlin because of a case the previous week. On Twitter, the Nîmes club (L1), host of OM for a friendly match on August 9, also announced Tuesday morning “two new suspicions” within the “professional group”. Nîmes is due to host Brest on Sunday for the first day of L1.
In total, some 40 players from eleven L1 clubs have tested positive for Covid-19 in recent weeks. The vast majority of them contracted the virus after resuming training in June, leading to more or less isolation depending on the case and the cascading cancellations of friendly matches.
READ ALSO: Ligue 1: facing the Covid-19, the Ultras desert the stadiums
Because of the health crisis, a maximum of 5,000 spectators is allowed in French stadiums. Several ultras groups of French supporters (Nantes, Lens, Nîmes, Lorient and Reims) have announced that they will not return to the stadium as is. Because if they do not dispute the health measures, they believe that they are incompatible with their ways of life in the stands. OM had asked the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture for an exemption to play in front of 20,000 spectators against Saint-Etienne. A request rejected by the prefecture, while the department has gone into “red” vigilance due to active circulation of the virus in recent weeks.