- Courtesy of Jean-Michel Aulas, the first women’s D1 play-offs will be played this weekend.
- The former president of Olympique Lyonnais believes the play-offs are essential for the “competitiveness” of the women’s D1 Arkéma.
- Lyon regret this new system and see it as not “fair”.
Context
The regular season of France’s D1 Arkema concluded this Wednesday afternoon with some thrilling results.
While Lyon, PSG, and Paris FC were already assured of qualifying for the 4-placed playoffs, and Bordeaux and Lille’s regulation to D2 (renamed Second League next season) was confirmed, FC Fleury 91 had to defeat Montpellier to secure its fourth place.
But a 2-3 put an end to their exciting season.
At the same time, Amandine Miquel’s Stade de Reims, who did not have their destiny in their hands, had a tough challenge. They were going head-to-head with the French Cup winners, PSG.
Luckily for them, they did not face the most determined PSG side and secured a 2-1 win.
These two results combined allowed Stade de Reims, fifth, one point behind FC Fleury 91 before the matches’ kickoff, to snatch the fourth qualifying place for the playoffs.
The semi-finals will therefore feature a Paris region derby between PSG and Paris FC (Saturday, May 11, at 9 p.m.), followed by Lyon-Reims on Sunday (5 p.m.).
The two semi-final winners will face off in the final of the D1 Arkéma.
What Is This New League Format?
The President of the new Women’s Professional Soccer League, Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon’s former President, is behind the new play-offs’ idea.
He defends this new system, poorly received by the Lyon management, which according to him will increase the “competitiveness” of the championship.
The new season of D1 women’s soccer delivered its implacable verdict on Wednesday: Olympique Lyonnais won its 17th French championship title in the last 18 editions, with a comfortable cushion of 11 points ahead of PSG. Really?
That’s what you would have thought, but not really.
Because Lyon just won the “regular” season, and apparently, that’s not enough to win the country’s league title anymore.
They will now have to win the play-offs. But it’s not really like the NBA’s endless best-of-seven battles.
Being consistent is no longer key to being rewarded.
Despite crushing the competition this season, finishing the regular season first with 11 points ahead of PSG and 26 over Stade de Reims, 4th and last qualified in the play-offs, Lyon wasn’t guaranteed the title.
They will have to play two additional matches with everything at stake.
“There are other solutions than putting everything on the line over two matches to have more competitiveness in French women’s soccer,” insists Vincent Ponsot, OL’s CEO, who hopes to see OL win the championship for the 17th time in its history.
“The women’s D1 should have kept its known system.”
OL’s Haitian Melchie Dumornay agrees with her CEO.
“This new formula is not necessarily negative,” she confided to 20 Minutes last month. “It allows clubs to show themselves, to prove themselves as they’ll try to book a place in the play offs. But for me, the French women’s D1 had to remain as it was. It was its identity, like the other major European championships which have kept their values.”
After having reigned so much over the women’s D1 Arkéma as president of OL, Jean-Michel Aulas is the man who undertook this reform last year, which existed in another time in France, from 1999 to 2004, aka before any outline of a professional contract.
The Broadcasters’ Demand For Last-Minute Suspense
“The broadcasters wanted suspense until the end.”
Announced on April 29 as the President of the new Women’s Professional Soccer League, Aulas fiercely defends the play-offs.
In an interview given Monday to 20 Minutes, JMA explains himself.
“At the FFF, we worked on the promotion of professional women’s soccer. In the negotiations with the TV broadcasters, we had a small handicap: they wanted a greater competitiveness between the clubs and suspense until the end.”
“They wanted us to present an attractive product. And I saw in these play-offs a chance for everyone to compete. It will put pressure on clubs until the end. In life, democracy has always made it possible to change things in the medium and long term. 10 clubs out of 12 were in favor of the play-offs, so we considered it to be a majority.”
The two teams to refuse the play-offs idea were, of course, France’s best, namely Lyon and Paris. They have monopolized the first two places in D1 in 12 of the last 13 seasons.
If PSG is rather discreet in the media on the subject, OL’s CEO Vincent Ponsot was very offensive regarding the choice of his former boss.
“In terms of meritocracy, this is not fair.”
In the opposite camp, we find for example David Fanzel, FC Fleury 91’s Sporting Director.
“It adds spice to our season. It is a brilliant initiative for French women’s soccer, which has been widely criticized for the low level of adversity in its championship. Lyon and Paris are not alone and if women’s soccer wants to grow, it needs everyone. We must be united. We should not only think about our own interests.”
Canal Plus’ TV Rights
Simple. For increased TV rights, the League must no longer see OL and PSG dominate the D1 Arkéma.
Since the 2023 agreement for the broadcast of the women’s D1 on Canal+ until 2029, the play-offs formula is also guaranteed in the contract with the encrypted channel.
Aulas, the vice president of the FFF, cites in this sense the establishment of a license that will prevent clubs from “not having satisfactory human and technical infrastructures”.
The new Women’s Professional Soccer League will go on the hunt for bad pitches, will ban synthetic pitches, and will ensure that the television broadcast of matches can take place in optimal conditions.
The key is that there are “bonuses to be achieved” from Canal + based on criteria linked to the TV audiences generated but also to “respect for competitiveness”.
The European Cards Are On The Table
If Stade de Reims are excited about their qualification to the play-offs, their excitement doubles when they think of a possible Champions League participation. It would be the first time in the club’s history.
To do so, upsetting Lyon in the semi-finals is an option.
The other option, in case of a defeat against Lyon, is winning the third-place match.
This season, the future champion of France will directly qualify for the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage, while the second and third-placed clubs will play the preliminary rounds.
“To be at risk of losing the title but also not qualifying to Europe next season is a total heresey,” complains Vincent Ponsot.
A Higher Budget For Women’s Soccer
“I personally regret that we didn’t take advantage of the 2019 World Cup that we hosted here in France,” Aulas says.
“We fully intend to better use the hype following the Paris 2024 Olympics, also thanks to an economic model which has been completely transformed so that this professional League is the best in Europe, ahead of England.”
“At the last FFF Executive Committee, I voted for an investment over 5 years of between 50 and 70 million euros in order to give a dynamic to professional women’s soccer. »
If FC Barcelona has just easily won its fifth title in a row in Spain, and Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg have constantly occupied the first 2 places in Germany for nine years, England appears to be the example to follow, since Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal are within 5 points in the middle of the final sprint.
Can the D1 Arkéma’s playoffs be the needed fuel to the rebirth of French soccer?
