The Paris Saint-Germain vs. Marseille match will not be played on Sunday evening at the Stade Velodrome after local authorities intervened and decided to postpone the match.
The French league’s Clásico was scheduled to kick off at 9:45 PM Mecca time, but bad weather prevented the match from going ahead as planned.
According to Radio Monte Carlo, French authorities are expecting a storm to hit at the same time as the match kicks off, with warnings of flooding in Marseille. This would completely disrupt the football match and threaten the lives of fans at the Stade Velodrome.
For this reason, the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône intervened and officially postponed the match without even consulting the French League.
The French League’s regulations stipulate that postponed matches must be played within 24 hours, so the Clásico is expected to be played on Monday.
Radio Monte Carlo pointed out that the governor’s decision to postpone the match, rather than the league’s, undermines this legal basis. Furthermore, Paris Saint-Germain will refuse to play the match tomorrow, given the Ballon d’Or ceremony taking place this evening in the French capital and the likelihood that Ousmane Dembélé will win the award.
Although Dembélé is injured and will not participate in the Marseille match, a large delegation from PSG, including players, coach Luis Enrique, and president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, will attend the ceremony. This is unlikely to happen if the clásico is played on the day of the ceremony, even at an early hour.
Ultimately, the French League decided to hold the Paris-Marseille match on Monday at 8:00 PM, meaning PSG and its representatives will not be present at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
