we explain to you why the organization of the Champions Trophy at the Parc des Princes makes people cringe

The fact that the capital club is playing this match on Wednesday in its own stadium, when it is usually organized on neutral ground, has aroused the anger of Toulouse residents.

Time for the first title of the season for French clubs. The Champions Trophy pits Paris Saint-Germain against Toulouse, Wednesday January 3 (9 p.m.). An unbalanced poster on paper which pits the French champion, and leader of Ligue 1, against the winner of the last Coupe de France and currently relegated (16th). On the road to a 12th coronation in the competition (which would be its 10th in the last 11 editions), PSG will also benefit from the advantage of playing at home, in its Parc des Princes, while this trophy will be usually wins on neutral ground, abroad.

The match was originally scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Thailand. Last June, Vincent Labrune, the president of the Professional Football League, announced The Team that it would ultimately not take place at the place and date (August 5) initially planned, the organizer having withdrawn. Once the postponement was announced, negotiations began and the choice to move the meeting to January, at the Parc des Princes, was made official by the LFP on November 28.

Ultras point to a lack of fairness and high prices

“We are not very happy with this decision, but we have to comply with it”regretted Carles Martinez Novell, fatalist at a press conference on Tuesday. Determined not to stir up tensions, the TFC coach added: “I prefer to play in Paris with our fans than too far away without them“. If the club ended up falling into line, the criticism from Violets supporters has never faded since the announcement of the relocation of the Champions Trophy to the Parisian venue.

The decision was maintained and the Toulouse Ultras decided to boycott the meeting. “How is it possible to claim to respect sporting fairness by choosing the PSG stadium to host the match, knowing which two teams will compete for the trophy? (…) We will not participate in this charade “, warned the 1993 Tolosa Indians on social networks. The latter called on supporters to experience the match on Place Saint-Pierre in Toulouse, knowing that the 6,500 seats put on sale (13% of the 48,000 seats in the stadium) for Toulouse residents have been sold.

There will be no Parisian Ultras either. The latter hardly validated the choice of the LFP and criticized the price of tickets which, according to them, “go against our values ​​and the defense of popular football”. Tickets were put on the market for more than 25 euros (55 euros and more for the general public), while the trip to Dortmund in the Champions League had cost only 18.50 euros for Parisian supporters, for example . Even if the Parc des Princes will be full on Wednesday evening, “we will let the LFP organize this trophy in a lifeless stadium”wrote the Ultras Paris Collective in a press release published on X (formerly Twitter).

A price increase may be considered to absorb the shortfall after the abandonment of the Thai project. The LFP has in any case justified the choice of the Parc des Princes by relying, in The Team, on the unavailability of the Stade de France, under construction for the Olympic Games, and a security context deemed more difficult to organize the meeting in a city other than Paris. The League also recalls that before 1998, all national cup finals were played at the Parc des Princes, with the risk that PSG would be involved. This has happened six times and the capital club has only lost once, against AS Monaco in the 1985 Coupe de France final. A win ratio of 83% which does not is not to reassure Toulouse residents.