Rumor has it that laughter is the best medicine, but it is unlikely that the team Etoile Lavalloise would agree with this statement. In order for some to find humor, the leader of the French futsal championship had to endure tears. Confused? Fear not, dear reader, as we are here to demystify the episode.
Let’s break it down step by step. Last Saturday, Etoile Lavalloise, the lone leader of the D1 Futsal 2023/24, was supposed to face Béthune Futsal.
The second-to-last-placed team, in a match on matchday 16. However, the game did not take place due to… a comedy show. It might sound like a joke. But the truth is that many people were actually laughing at Espace Mayenne, the venue where the Laval team plays. The only thing the home team didn’t find amusing was the situation itself.
The French press initially reported the situation, and it was later confirmed. On the scheduled day of the game, a show by comedian Jéremy Ferrari was also planned. On Friday, the day before the game, Etoile Lavalloise confirmed, in a statement, the impossibility of hosting Béthune Futsal at Espace Mayenne and pointed fingers at the opponent and the French Football Federation (FFF).
The statement from the Laval emblem read, “After several refusals from the opposing club, currently in the relegation zone, to reschedule the game on the same day but at 9 pm and in Saint-Berthevin, the French Federation also did not authorize us to play in the cities of Caen, Lisieux, or Roubaix, which were ready to receive us.” The note also took a dig at the opponent, stating, “It is useless to applaud the sportsmanship of the Béthune club when compared to other clubs that have sporting ethics.“
This situation was not unknown to Etoile Lavalloise.
At the beginning of the season, when the calendar was released, the club left two games with a “venue to be defined”. Likely aware of Espace Mayenne’s unavailability. One of these games was the reception to GOAL FC on November 18, which ended in a draw. At that time, the club used the Espace Sportif Bernard Le Godais in Saint-Berthevin as an alternative venue. The same space intended for hosting Béthune Futsal.
However, using the alternative venue required postponing the meeting. The initial departure was scheduled for 2:30 pm. The championship leader proposed to postpone the match until 9 pm local time on the same day, a solution promptly refused by the opponent.
Facing the opponent’s intransigence, including resistance to changing the match venue to other cities, also rejected by the FFF, the conditions for holding the match were not met.
If all this weren’t unusual enough, there is one more twist: Etoile Lavalloise could face the first defeat of the season amid this chaos. The French press reported that the club had to declare a failure to attend the meeting. Potentially resulting in the first defeat in D1 Futsal and the second victory for Béthune Futsal, a team urgently needing points to avoid relegation.
However, this information is yet to be confirmed by the FFF. On the French federation portal, the current standings remain unchanged for both clubs: 43 points for Etoile Lavalloise and ten for Béthune Futsal. Both with a game in hand. Regarding this match, conflicting information is available.
On FFF channels, there is a “postponed” status for the match on the list for matchday 16. However, a day summary published by the organization mentions the leader’s “withdrawal.” As of now, the standings remain the same, with both teams having this match postponed and maintaining their scores from the start of the day. However, the possibility of this being the first defeat for Etoile Lavalloise remains uncertain. What a curious anecdote, indeed.