Racing Club de Lens has expressed its displeasure with the potential postponement of its Ligue 1 fixture against Paris Saint-Germain on April 11 by the LFP.
PSG had approached the French Professional Football League (LFP) to move their upcoming match against second-placed Lens to have more time to prepare for their UEFA Champions League trip to Liverpool on April 14.
A few weeks ago, the authorities approved PSG’s request to move the Nantes game to a later date to better prepare for the round of 16 match against Chelsea.
However, Lens are not in support of PSG’s request, and they have cited a congested line-up of games as a major reason, with limited financial capabilities compared to PSG.
What is RC Lens’ argument
Lens, in a press statement on Monday, said that the schedule adjustment could jeopardise the organisation of the Ligue 1.
As things stand in the French top-flight table, PSG sit atop the table with 60 points with a game in hand and a point above second-placed Lens who have gathered 59 points.
“On March 6, the scheduling of the match pitting Racing Club de Lens against Paris Saint-Germain was finalised, formalising a framework to which everyone was then invited to adhere,” read a statement from RC Lens.
“In a spirit of responsibility and restraint, Racing Club de Lens, from the very first requests, made it known to Paris Saint-Germain its intention not to see this date changed. True to a certain idea of sporting stability, the club had also chosen to refrain from any public communication on this subject.
“However, the recent proliferation of statements, interventions, and various suggestions now leads us to break from this reserve.
“It does indeed appear to us that a troubling sentiment is taking hold: that of a French championship gradually relegated to the status of an adjustment variable at the whim of the European imperatives of some.
“A singular conception of sporting equity, the equivalent of which is hard to find in other major continental competitions.
“Changing the date of this match today would mean, for Racing Club de Lens, being deprived of competition for 15 days and then chaining matches every three days—a rhythm that corresponds neither to the one defined at the start of the championship, nor to the resources of a club that could absorb this type of new constraint without consequence.
“It would therefore be understood that the tenth budget in the championship should adapt to the demands of the most powerful, in the name of interests that, evidently, now extend beyond the domestic framework, which has already been lightened in recent seasons (L1 reduced to 18 clubs, discontinuation of the Coupe de la Ligue).
“Beyond this particular case, the question raised is more fundamental: that of the respect due to the competition itself.
“For it is permissible to wonder when, on its own soil, the championship sometimes seems relegated behind other ambitions, however legitimate they may be.
“Racing Club de Lens remains committed to equity, the clarity of rules, and respect for all stakeholders. Simple principles, for a loyal and respected French football.”
LFP is yet to make a decision
Following Lens’ public outrage, it remains to be seen whether the French Professional Football League (LFP) will grant PSG’s request to postpone the April 11 game at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis or stick with the already confirmed schedule.
