On paper, there is nothing like a PSG-OL on Sunday (9:00 p.m.) on the 2nd day to launch the French championship, but the spotlight this summer on women’s football during the World Cup in Australia is still struggling to shed light on the D1 and its sparse stands. “In Australia it was incredible, all the stadiums were full. For the Trophée des champions, it was hard. We said to ourselves: We’re going from Australia where everything was sold out, to the Trophy where it’s still difficult to attract the public, admitted Wednesday Selma Bacha, the full-back of Olympique Lyonnais, interviewed by the AFP.
On September 10 in Troyes, the aisles of the Aube stadium (capacity of 20,000) were half empty on the occasion of the first big match of the season between, already, PSG and OL, won by the Lyonnaises (2-0). “It’s sad that for a clash like PSG-Lyon there aren’t many supporters even though we are one of the best European teams,” Parisian defender Elisa De Almeida regretted to AFP. The D1, which wanted to ride the public fervor during the World Cup with a peak of 5.7 million viewers during the quarter-final between France and Australia, does not seem to be catching the wave, unlike its European neighbors.
In England and Spain, the stands are often full during first division matches: Sunday’s Arsenal-Liverpool match will bring together 50,000 people at the Emirates, and Chelsea will host Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. “We are light years away,” underlined the captain of OL and the French team, Wendie Renard. The Bleues coach, Hervé Renard, estimated that “it will take a little time to change people’s outlook on women’s football. (…) There are nations which have overtaken France, it is an alarm signal, we must look into it.
For Sunday’s match at the Parc des Princes, with a capacity of more than 45,000, there were 13,000 people having purchased their tickets on Friday – 1,000 ultras are expected -, according to a source close to the club, who is hoping for 17,000 people present at the start. ‘sending. “We are lacking a little patience, we who are concerned, we have to ensure that the stadiums are full,” said OL coach Sonia Bompastor, adding that the match “is in competition with Ligue 1 , it’s not ideal.”
After the international break and a first day, the D1 begins this new season with this shock, strong in symbolism especially for PSG, who experienced an eventful week. On Thursday, coach Gérard Prêcheur, who arrived in August 2022, left his post for “personal reasons”, replaced by his son Jocelyn Prêcheur, who was his assistant until then. Olympique Lyonnais striker Kadidiatou Diani, who arrived this summer from PSG, will return to her former club. At the same time as her departure from the capital in June, the top scorer in D1 filed a complaint of sexual assault against former PSG coach Didier Ollé-Nicole, who has since been the subject of an investigation. “She is doing pretty well compared to her statements. I think the players talked in the locker room. At my level she does not seem disturbed,” commented Sonia Bompastor.
On Sunday, Diani will reunite with her former teammates and her friend Marie-Antoinette Katoto. The French striker, who played on the pitch for around twenty minutes against Bordeaux (3-0), after 14 months of absence and her rupture of the cruciate ligament in her right knee, will not start but should come into play. The captain of PSG Grace Geyoro, injured in the ankle against Portugal (2-0) last Friday, should start. Facing them, the Lyonnaises, on the roof of the D1 with 16 titles and 8 Champions League, still seem above it, with a squad which has grown further this summer. In addition to having stolen Diani from PSG, OL signed the young Haitian Melchie Dumornay, already scorer with a beautiful diving header against PSG during the Trophée des champions.
