The 16th finals of the Coupe de France are played this weekend, with seven matches on the program for Saturday. The meeting that attracts the most attention is that between Orléans, a National club, and PSG, which is marred by several controversies.
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The most unbalanced poster of the round of 16 of the Coupe de France is the trip of Brest to the pitch of the Périgourdins de Trelissac, a National 2 club, the equivalent of the 4th division, on Saturday January 20. But it’s another meeting that gets the most attention: Orléans, which plays in the National, the equivalent of the 3rd division, hosts PSG and its stars at 8:45 p.m. at the Source stadium in front of 7,800 spectators. A match which provokes several controversies.
Going to see US Orléans play in National costs on average 20 euros. But on this Coupe de France weekend, inflation is wreaking havoc at the Source stadium. Between 60 and 100 euros per place, this is the price to pay, set by the club, certain to ride on the Kylian Mbappé effect. This doesn’t really correspond to the spirit of the Coupe de France, regrets a Parisian supporter: “These are prices that are completely prohibitive, even in European parks, the prices are not as high, she denounces. We are still very, very far from popular football. And there the Orléans club wants to line its pockets on the backs of Parisian supporters and its own supporters. underlines the supporter.
“It is not tolerable to charge such prices.”
The CUP, the Ultra Paris Collectivein a press release
Some of the Parisian ultras even called for a boycott of the match. Like the CUP, the Collectif ultra Paris, which denounces the prohibitive prices for the match: “Supporters are not intended to replenish the coffers of a club with haphazard management”writes the collective in a press release released on Wednesday. “The main reason is to make a big buck”explains Arnaud Roszak, journalist at France Bleu Orléans, who recalls that “US Orléans has been in great financial difficulty lately.” On January 10, the DNCG, the financial policeman of French football, decided to demote the USO as a precautionary measure to National 2, at the end of the season, if the financial situation does not improve.
“A risk for the players”, according to the PSG coach
Between the two clubs, the atmosphere is rather fresh. On Friday, she even became icy after Luis Enrique’s press conference. This time, the concern of the PSG coach regarding the state of the pitch replaced at the last minute: “I understand that it’s a match that brings a lot of enthusiasm, but we have to be sure that the pitch provides the right conditions for high-level football, I have a doubt about that, a very big doubt. There is a risk for the players and that worries me a lot.”, said Luis Enrique. The coach assures that he will only decide on his team composition after seeing with his own eyes what the pitch looks like. Kick-off at 8:45 p.m.