Cs every summer, Lorient and Morbihan host the Interceltic Festival, which celebrates the music and folklore of the various Celtic countries. And like every summer, Ligue 1 resumes its rights. The second day’s program included the poster between Lorient and Olympique Lyonnais. The match was to take place at Moustoir, home of the Hakes, but the bagpipes and the crowd gathered during the previous days ravaged the lawn of the Lorient stadium. Added to this is the intense drought of this summer 2022…
Results ? A lawn in too poor condition for a professional football match. Even in the Coupe de France at the beginning of January on frozen lawns, we have fewer complaints to make. Unsurprisingly, the meeting between FC Lorient and OL has been postponed. The Bretons tried in vain to relocate the match to Vannes, Rennes or Bordeaux, but no one could respond positively to this request in such a short time. If there is obviously no death of man, we are obliged to ask ourselves questions about this lack of organization and this impassable lawn. When we also see the ground in suffering on the side of Ajaccio for the reception of Lens, we say to ourselves that the Merlus are not the only ones to blame. Ligue 1, its actors and supporters deserve much better.
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On the Lorient side, we deny not having foreseen the consequences of several concerts on the lawn. “I deny that we did not anticipate. Since 2016, since we have our hybrid lawn, we have always been able to play after the Interceltic Festival. Moreover, if the LFP had considered that we had not done everything to play, it would certainly have taken another decision, ”said Arnaud Tanguy, general manager of Merlus, to defend himself. However, when in doubt, there was nothing to prevent Lorient’s first matches away from home, especially if we knew there would be the festival…
Supporters are the forgotten ones
Nobody wants to assume for the moment this failure, which makes Ligue 1 pass for an amateur championship next to the Premier League and its billiards. The Lorient president, Loic Féry, even accused OL of having used their influence to cancel the match. “Under pressure from Olympique Lyonnais who threatened the LFP with claims for damages in the event of injury, the Competitions Committee unfortunately preferred to postpone this match. “On the OL side, we regretted that “FC Lorient did not do everything possible to prevent this situation”. Gentlemen, a little haughtiness and decency: passing the blame will not advance the schmilblick!
The authorities, closing their eyes for several days before finally waking up to the inevitable postponement of the match, do not respect the public who were to travel to Moustoir this Sunday. As a reminder, several families and supporters had planned this trip and organized their holidays accordingly. No one will compensate them financially: they are the great forgotten of this fiasco of the second day. However, the League does not fail to include the stands in its promotional clips… For the L1 to be a party, it should start by respecting them.