What's your reaction to the Administrative Council's decision?

It's a wise decision. It's going to make the communication around French football coherent. There was a need for it, I think.

It's good news then?

It's come about in special circumstances given the public health situation. It means we finish fifth, that's good news for OGC Nice. Of course, we would have liked to have shared that with our fans in the stadium, just as we've done in the past after good finishes. But I know this news will give our fans a little bit of happiness in a difficult period for everyone. They have supported us all year and they deserve this today. Just as the players and staff have given everything all season long.

The criteria of performance won out…

With the French Football Federation having applied those same criteria to the amateur leagues, I would have had a hard time understanding and accepting another way of thinking. We need things to be coherent nationally. It's not me who took this decision, but it was important to work towards that being the case, because it makes sense.

Did a consensus come through today?

Everyone expressed their positions. It's normal, but in the end a vote was held. There are people who are happy and those who are not happy. I hope no-one will contest it. It would be good for our football that it's not contested.

Especially as the league placing has an impact on the TV money received…

Yes, but there is a big part of the TV money that has now been taken away [due to the season not finishing]. But of course, it's better to be fifth than lower down.

Fifth place is reward for a season that was a little tricky at times, but was on the right track…

It was a strange kind of season. The circumstances have worked in our favour in the end. But, even if we were inconsistent, we earned the points on the pitch.

And what about Europe?

It's not a certainty [read elsehwere]. There's the wish to play the two domestic cup finals before the new seasons. There are question marks over that. Can they be played? And if they are played, we'll have to wait for the results. If Saint-Etienne and Lyon beat Paris, there won't be European competition for us.

Le Gym could find itself fifth and still not qualify…

The difficulty for Saint-Etienne, Lyon, Reims and Nice is that if things happen as planned, we're going to have to wait until the last minute before finding out if we're playing in Europe or not. In terms of budget, the transfer window…it's not easy. But that's how it is, we have to deal with it.

Is it possible now to know when we'll know if the cup finals are to be played or not?

No. Things are quite clear, but there's one thing that we have no control over: the public health situation. That will require us to adapt or not.

L.O.

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