Paris FC and the LFP (Professional Football League) have decided to stop the massacre. Paris FC-Amiens, this Saturday evening, should have been the 4th match played in eleven days on the lawn of the Charléty stadium, which has turned into a plowing field in recent weeks. But the meeting was postponed after the arrival of a delegate from the LFP yesterday, who logically deemed the lawn impracticable.
A wise decision in view of the playing conditions during Paris FC-Annecy in the Coupe de France on Wednesday. We can even be relieved that no player has been injured because of this lawn in recent weeks. Even on N 3 pitches in Île-de-France, the lawn is in better condition than in Charléty. Since the resumption of December, Paris FC has been evolving on a very degraded surface. “We can do anything with weight, javelin… Everything, except football,” lamented Thierry Laurey on Wednesday after the elimination against Annecy.
For the players, evolving on such a lawn does not help to practice even a semblance of football. Even if Laurey, who would certainly have been weakened in the event of another bad result against Amiens, took out the umbrella by evoking the ground, it is not necessarily the only explanation for the sad spectacle offered by his team week after week. But between the insipid performances and the state of the field, Paris FC supporters are very brave to come and venture to the Charléty stadium… Whether at the stadium or in front of the television, the scenes worthy of a video gag, players falling alone or a ball that remains planted, are catastrophic for the brand image of the club. Such a lawn in a professional championship in Paris, the capital, it does not look very serious…
After the match against Annecy, the leaders of Paris FC considered all the solutions on Thursday. One of them would have been to relocate the match to another stadium in Île-de-France like Créteil. But it was materially complicated in terms of timing. It was also considered to reverse the match and go play at the Licorne stadium in Amiens. Impossible also for a problem of fairness… Paris FC therefore contacted the LFP whose delegate noted the impassability of the ground.
A hybrid lawn next season
The question now is who is responsible for this situation? On the side of Paris FC, we have already pointed the finger at the town hall of Paris, owner of the stadium, which has chosen the Botanica group as the service provider responsible for maintaining the lawn. “I understand that we are being singled out, replies Pierre Rabadan, the sports assistant. But I am both scandalized when I see this lawn and disappointed. We changed the lawn this summer at a cost of 240,000 euros, we asked for maintenance efforts. We couldn’t do better. Now we are looking for solutions to finish the season as well as possible. In the very short term, before the next home game scheduled for February 25 against Niort, a 3,000 m2 plate will be placed on the pitch. The National Paris 13 Atletico-Red Star derby, which should have taken place in Charléty on February 17, will have to be played elsewhere.
But this “replacing” of a few strips on the ground will just act as a plaster on a wooden leg. For next season, the laying of a hybrid lawn is acquired. “Yes, there will be one, confirms Pierre Rabadan. We saw each other with Paris FC, we agree on the substance, now we have to define the terms of care. A hybrid does not have the same costs in terms of installation, operation and maintenance. Paris FC will also have to participate. »