No last minute framing-overflow attempt. Hexagonal rugby resolved to hear what Edouard Philippe had explained Tuesday, even if he had not explicitly mentioned the word rugby: "The 2019-2020 season of professional sports, especially that of football, will not be able to resume either", had announced the Prime Minister before the deputies, while presenting the plan of progressive exit of containment put in place to fight against the epidemic of coronavirus. Meeting on Wednesday, the presidents of the Top 14 and Pro D2 clubs decided to end the 2019-2020 season.
And even if the sports ministry had left open the possibility of resuming competition in August – "If the pandemic no longer progresses, with small spectator gauges, less than 5,000 people "- there will therefore be no in camera matches on that date, as imagined at one time, no final stages in September: the Top 14 would return after the summer.
The 30 presidents of professional clubs lined up behind the hypothesis of the National Rugby League (LNR), which from the office of the day before was leaning for a total stop of the championships, frozen since mid-March because of the pandemic of coronavirus. This decision remains to be definitively ratified on Thursday during a meeting between the League, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) and the Ministry of Sports.
It should also be noted that the season will not appoint a champion, which seems to be the option chosen. Just as it will be necessary to say which teams are qualified for the next European Cup
If they are considering a resumption in September, the FFR, the LNR and professional clubs have sent a letter to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron to alert him of their uncertain future.
"If we decide to enter the new season, we have to be able to do so with a certain number of guarantees, in particular regarding match-keeping and the economy", Thomas Lombard, managing director of the Stade Français, told AFP. "The clubs are going to be alive for the next four months: we haven't had any cash flow since March. There are certainly government assistance measures, but we still have charges falling. "
