French federation dismisses PSG League Cup reprieve

League Cup winners Paris Saint Germain's bid to have a ban on them defending the title was turned down by the French football federation (FFF) on Tuesday.

During an emergency meeting Tuesday morning the FFF dismissed a proposal by the French national Olympic Committee (CNOSF) to have the ban transformed into a match behind closed doors at the beginning of the season.

In April the Professional Football League (LFP) banned the winners from the 2008-09 competition after PSG fans displayed a controversial banner during their League Cup final victory over Lens.

During the match – attended by President Nicolas Sarkozy – Parisian fans were forced to remove the 25-metre banner which labelled people in the northeast of the country as “paedophiles, unemployed, inbreds”.

But the FFF judged the original sanction as “appropriate given the particular nature and the seriousness of the facts”.

They also said that because the incident took place during the League Cup “it was logical and suitable the sanction concern the League Cup and not the French championship”.

The CNOSF on Monday said they found the sanction “disproportionate”.

The draw for the first round of the League Cup takes place on Wednesday.