While the league authorities have made accommodations for other European campaigns in the past, PSG's request did prompt vocal opposition from Lens. "Our intention wasn't to pick a fight with PSG," Benjamin Parrot, the club's general director, tells BBC Sport. The league council's decision, he points out, means Coupe de France semi-finalists Lens will end their league campaign with three games in the space of a week. Within four days, Lens managed to set up a replacement match. Gleizes was handed a seven-year sentence in December for "glorifying terrorism" after travelling to the country to write about football club JS Kabylie.

Source: BBC April 10, 2026 08:41 UTC