While OL wanted to increase the capacity of Groupama Stadium for the derby against Saint-Etienne, scheduled for this Friday (9 p.m.), the Rhone club will most likely have to settle for the 5,000 people capacity established by the government.
OL lose another fight. While the club wanted to welcome more than 5,000 spectators for the derby against Saint-Etienne, this Friday at 9 p.m., the gauge will not be increased for the 124th derby The reason? The timing of the decision of the Constitutional Council, seized on Sunday by around sixty deputies from all sides, who dispute the passage of the vaccination pass from the health pass in force, the bill passed by the National Assembly last Sunday. The Constitutional Council indicated this morning that it will make its decision on Friday.
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As the match between Lyon and Saint-Etienne is scheduled for the evening at 9 p.m., it seems difficult that this could allow the authorities to immediately authorize (assuming that the decision is positive) the file submitted by OL, to “divide” the stadium into five different stadiums, separating each stand where 5,000 supporters could come.
A health success for OL-PSG
This is the organization proposed (and rejected) from the first match of the year against PSG on January 9th. But the Lyon leaders did not despair of offering an increased gauge, for the second meeting at the start of 2022, which should have filled up for the second time in 15 days.
Building on the “sanitary” success of Lyon-PSG, where only the boxes labeled catering had welcomed supporters who had been able to follow the match after having dinner, OL had put together a file, with supporting photos, of everything that had been done (distribution of FFP2 masks, closing of refreshment bars, repeated remarks by stewards to fans to wear the mask at all times).
Draw for the derby
As a result, the gauge of 5,000 people should be distributed differently: where a large majority had been given to box supporters, there should be parity between “VIP” and general public supporters with a draw among the 25,000 subscribers who had been surveyed by email on their willingness and availability for this meeting. The last face-to-face derby in Lyon dates from March 1, 2020, just before confinement and attracted 52,722 spectators. There were even 58,069 people for the February 2018 derby.
It will therefore be the third poster which should have been full of people and cash and which will ring hollow after the future OL-OM to be played again behind closed doors and Lyon-PSG at the start of the reduction in gauges to 5,000 on January 9. . OL’s “annus horribilis” season therefore continues.