Amiens call for a 22-team division in Ligue 1 next season
Monday 4 May 2020 13:06, UK
Amiens have launched a petition calling for France's Professional Football League [LFP] to review its decision to relegate the club following the early finish of the Ligue 1 season.
The club were relegated from the country's top flight, alongside Toulouse, on Thursday following the French government's announcement to put all major sport on hold until September.
Amiens were 19th in the 20-team Ligue 1 table, four points behind 18-placed Nimes, with 10 games left to play when the campaign was suspended in March.
They believe the fairest choice would be to expand Ligue 1 and make it a 22-team division for the 2020-21 season.
Amiens believe the decision by the LFP goes against sporting fairness and have called on the club's supporters and all fans of football to support the initiative, which they believe would make football and sport grow.
Amiens said in a statement under their petition: "Faced with this decision fraught with consequences that goes against sporting fairness, Amiens SC asks the Professional Football League to review its position and make the fairest choice: A Ligue 1 with 22 clubs for next season."
The LFP crowned Lorient, who led Lens by just one point, as Ligue 2 champions with both clubs earning promotion.
Ligue 1 became the first of Europe's top-five divisions to end their domestic league season early amid the pandemic, with seventh-placed Lyon, who subsequently missed out on a European place, threatening legal action.
The Eredivisie in Netherlands opted to bring their season to an early conclusion last month, without champions or relegation.
