Decision to cancel Ligue 1 was taken too quickly, reveals Ander Herrera
PSG midfielder Ander Herrera has confessed that he believes the decision to cancel and end the Ligue 1 season was taken too quickly with the other European leagues resuming play. The Parisians were handed the French top tier title after the coronavirus forced the Ligue 1 to end their season.
The last three odd months have seen the world deprived of any sporting action which was a decision that the world had to take over the coronavirus. However, the global pandemic forced the football associations in Belgium, France and the Netherlands to end their league season with Club Brugge, PSG and Ajax handed their league titles respectively. But the French top tier has seen many call for the French Football Federation (FFF) to take a u-turn on their decision and resume the season again.
It even saw Olympique Lyon, Toulouse, and Amiens file an appeal but their legal option was rejected in court although all three sides haven’t stopped fighting. But with the other four major European leagues resuming action, Ander Herrera has admitted that he believes the FFF made their decision to quickly. The midfielder also added that the Football Federation could have waited and that PSG will do their best to stay fit for the Champions League.
“We do not know what is going to happen. We don’t know if we will play the Champions League or not. We do not know if the government is going to allow us to play in France. This is a mess but we, my family, are in Spain, so we are fine. Lyon and PSG are not in the best situation. They took the decision too soon. I think it was too quick to cancel and finish the league. They could have waited a little bit longer to see what was going to happen, and now we can see with Germany and Spain starting back up and they have even pushed the first games before they were expected to be,” Herrera told the Athletic.
“We will try our best to prepare by training — probably we will play some friendly games — but it will never be the same (fitness level). It is all we can do; to try to compete between ourselves in training. I agree with the president of Lyon, who said a few weeks ago that the situation is horrible for French teams. It is not fair. But the government decided to finish the league and we have to adapt.”
While the other four major European leagues are set to resume play, they will be playing behind closed doors despite Spain’s attempts to get fans back into their stadiums. However, while that has been rejected by players and health officials, the La Liga and Segunda Divisions are still in discussions. That will see things change a lot as the Bundesliga has proven and Herrera admitted that while “football without fans is nothing”, the most important thing is making sure that the virus is kept in check.
“My view is that football without fans is nothing but we are realising now that football is a business. It is going to be horrible for football fans and football in general but we have to find ways to enjoy it. The most important thing is that the virus, step by step, disappears. A lot of people make a living through football, so I hope it is the shortest time possible without fans.
“Some teams really feel the atmosphere of their fans. Liverpool are one example. Osasuna in Spain get a lot of points because the stadium is small, the fans are really close to the pitch; because they put pressure on the referee. Every team will suffer in this situation but there are some examples where they will suffer even more. It is going to be a new sport,” he added.
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