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L’Équipe report that the management of both Monaco and Lyon have indicated that the proposed February fixture in Shanghai is now unlikely to happen.
The Ligue 1 authorities had initially put forward the idea of playing the matchday 23 game in China in order to boost French football’s profile abroad, with both Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas and Monaco vice-president Oleg Petrov agreeing to the idea in principle.
Petrov, however, has now indicated that he does not believe the idea is feasible, nevertheless adding that all options with regard to the promotion of Ligue 1 should be explored. Aulas himself has added that the Monaco man called him to indicate that there would be difficulties in the plan as a result of quarantine periods and international games before and after the event.
The match would have also taken place on the same weekend as the opening to the Beijing Winter Olympics – with Aulas concluding that it was best to “back out”. In any case, the Ligue 1 authorities would have had to get the approval of FIFA, who have already turned down two requests from La Liga for a similar project.
