REACTIONS

Manu Pirès, youth academy director and reserve team coach (N3): "What we were worried would happen has happened. But as long as the conditions cannot be put in place to ensure the health of the public and the players, you can fully understand this decision. It's going to be a long break, we don't know when training can restart. Even if the players keep training physically, it's going to be a brake on their progress, just as if they had a long-term injury. We're going to take advantage of it to focus on the education of our youngsters with a home-schooling system. We're also keeping the lines of communication open between the players and their families — everyone has questions. We'll then have to draw up our squads with all the difficulties that implies, even if we are used to working long term and a lot of things had already been planned, fortunately. It's an exceptional situation, and we have to overcome it. This period also enables us to realise the crucial role of certain people, those who are battling to save lives. In normal circumstances, footballers and artists get the headlines because they make people happy. But now we are realising the importance of people with enormous human values."

Fabrice Garrigues (pre-youth academy director): "This seemed the obvious decision given recent weeks. Of course, we were wondering when and especially how we'd be able to restart while ensuring the health of the players and those around them. There are a lot of unanswered questions. We're in contact with the kids and their families via WhatsApp. The players are still training with exercises and core training programmes drawn up by our physio. The mental coach is also supporting them. As for next season, we had already made progress, especially in terms of our trials. We had looked at all the players, even those in the B team to make our choices. We'll talk to all the families by phone at the start of May, either to confirm they'll continue with us or to help them find another project. We had a lot of ideas for next season, and we hope to be able to put them in place. Like everyone else, we're waiting to see what comes next, because there are a lot of things that we don't have control over."

Jean-Luc Donati (Director General, OGC Nice Association): "It mean's we'll play in the women's second division next season. We'd have preferred to secure our status on the pitch, especially as we were on a good run. After a bedding-in period, the girls had upped their level and we'd been very solid in the last few games. I was convinced we'd stay up. But given the circumstances, we're not going to complain, far from it. I'd also like to spare a thought for those who are missing out on promotion when they seemed to be on course for it. But it's still only football, and we understand there are other priorities at every level. Right now, health is the priority: our hearts go out to those who are involved in his health crisis."