The French Football League (LFP) is reportedly seeking more than €100m (£89.2m/$118.4m) in compensation from the national government as the 2020-21 season got underway with stadium capacities limited to 5,000 amid ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
France’s Ligue 1 was the only major European league to cancel the remainder of its 2019-20 season following the COVID-19 outbreak in March and although the 2020-21 campaign is already underway, crowd restrictions are set to significantly impact team revenue.
A 5,000 attendance cap on sports stadiums will be in place until at least October 31. Speaking (Wednesday) during the league’s board of directors meeting, LFP director general Didier Quillot revealed that the body will be seeking compensation from the government over the restrictions.
Clubs are able to request exemptions to allow more than 5,000 fans into their stadiums but so far none have been granted to Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 teams.
“Regarding the health protocol in force, the council reiterated its request for exemptions from the maximum number of 5,000 spectators in the green zone,” Quillot said, according to French newspaper L’Équipe.
“Today, we have not had a single exemption, while rugby (the Top 14) has had two. And we also worked on a claim for compensation that we are requesting for losses in ticketing and hospitality revenue related to matches played at reduced capacity. I mentioned the letter that I sent at the end of last week to the president and the Prime Minister in order to request compensation for our clubs.”
Quillot did not reveal the amount that is being requested but L’Équipe reported that the figure stands at more than €100m, with a more detailed request to be outlined in the coming days.
Image: KevFB/Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)/Edited for size
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