Reduced gauge obliges, they will be only 5,000 spectators to take place in the stands of the Parc des Princes, this Monday evening, to attend the 8th final of the Coupe de France between Paris and Nice. None should therefore arrive late. Especially with a kick-off set at 9:15 p.m. Same for viewers who will have time to eat dinner before sitting down on their sofa. But how to explain such a schedule, a Monday, January 31? You have to turn to the free-to-air broadcaster of the evening: France 3 (the match will also be broadcast on Eurosport 2). It is he and not the French Federation (FFF) which is indeed master of the game in this area.
As such, France Télévisions explains that it wanted to give the meeting “the best exposure possible by choosing the time when people watch television the most”. For the public channel, the main thing is to launch its prime time “with a broadcast at the stadium between 9:55 p.m. and 9:10 p.m.”.
It is not the first time this season that Paris has started a Cup match late. Against Entente Feignies-Aulnoye and Vannes, kick-offs were set for 9:10 p.m. But, this Monday, the channel has planned a little extra time due to the draw for the quarter-finals scheduled a little earlier at the Parc des Princes, as part of the program Tout le sport which starts at 8:45 p.m.
With such a schedule in any case we can only welcome the absence of extension in the event of a tie at the end of regulation time and a direct passage to penalties.