The president of the French football league, Frederic Thiriez, is “very disappointed” at Lyon’s attitude in their ongoing dispute over the date of their match against Grenoble.
Lyon’s appeal against the LFP’s decision to grant Bordeaux’s request and move that match back one day to Saturday was turned down on Wednesday and the club have now taken the matter to the French Olympic Committee.
Bordeaux had asked for the move to “re-establish the equilibrium” between the two ahead of their Champions League quarter-final clash next week, and Thiriez believes Lyon should have agreed to their request.
“I regret the fact that the Lyon president has lost a chance to show more fair play,” he said.
“The Ligue committees made sure ethics prevailed and I am very disappointed that the OL president is fighting against decisions that don’t lie anywhere but in the interest of sporting equality.”
The Ligue 1 giants face each other in Lyon in the first leg on March 30 – three days after Bordeaux’s Coupe de France final against Marseille.
Lyon were due to play Grenoble on Sunday but their match was switched to Friday following their defeat of Real Madrid in the last round.
That left Bordeaux unhappy that Lyon would have additional time to rest, prompting them to submit their request.
The LFP reached a unanimous decision on Tuesday to grant the request, meaning the match will take place at 5pm local time on Saturday.
Lyon coach Claude Puelhas severely criticised the decision.
He said: “Don’t talk to me at all about equality or equilibrium when you know how things have happened in the background – when (Bordeaux coach Laurent) Blanc directly calls the Ligue president to try to influence him.”
