Brest deny Lille’s request to reschedule upcoming clash

According to RMC Sport , Lille OSC wrote to the LFP requesting that their game against Stade Brestois would be rescheduled from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the 17th of March. 

This is because this encounter would come three days after the second leg of their Europa Conference League tie against SK Sturm Graz, and they hoped that the extra few hours would provide an already depleted squad with some added recovery time. 

Lille currently have seven players out injured and are cautious about overstretching their team ahead of the game against Brest which they consider a contest against a direct rival for one of the Champions League places. 

The broadcaster of the match, Amazon Prime, agreed to the change of time, but Lille’s plan was thrown into disarray when the LFP then asked Brest. The current second-placed team refused to change the schedule. 

RMC Sport reports that Brest have planned several events and has already committed to its services elsewhere and will not change the scheduled time. Faced with this the LFP has no choice but to respect the already agreed timeslot, “ If everyone agrees, no problem, but if one of the parties does not want to, we cannot impose anything. ”

This situation will likely add to the at times tense relations between the two head coaches: Brest’s Eric Roy and Lille’s Paulo Fonesca. Last season the two clashed on the sidelines leading to Fonesca being shown a red card, after complaints that Roy’s sides were excessively time-wasting. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland