Olympique de Marseille, which hoped to play in front of 20,000 spectators against Saint-Etienne on August 21 for the first day of Ligue 1, beyond the limits imposed due to the coronavirus, saw its request for exemption rejected, indicated the prefecture Saturday.
“I consider that the gauge should remain at 5,000 people,” said Bouches-du-Rhône prefect Pierre Dartout at a press conference, adding that he had informed club president Jacques-Henri Eyraud.
A 67,000-seat stadium
The Covid-19 epidemic has been resuming in France, especially in the Bouches-du-Rhône department classified in red for the circulation of the virus for a few days.
Faced with this situation, the government announced on Tuesday the extension until the end of October of a maximum capacity of 5,000 people for large gatherings.
But OM, which plays in a Vélodrome stadium that can accommodate 67,000 spectators, hoped to be able to deviate from the rule anyway, by applying distancing measures in the stands.
No exemption for Bordeaux either
The Girondins de Bordeaux, who also hoped for a prefectural exemption to increase to 10,000 spectators for the resumption of L1 against Nantes, also saw their request rejected by the Gironde prefecture, they announced in a statement on Saturday.
An identical decision was taken on Friday by the Loire-Atlantique prefecture concerning the Nantes-Nîmes match, scheduled for the second day on August 30 and which will also be limited to 5,000 spectators.
For its part, OGC Nice had indicated on Wednesday that it would receive Lens in camera on August 23.