France Team Stuck in Norway, Game May be Delayed

October 12th, 2007 | by: Laurie |

It’s kind of hard to play a football game when one of the teams is stuck in another country. That may be the case tomorrow, when France is scheduled to play in the Faroe Islands.

According to l’Equipe, the France team was unexpectedly required to spend the night in Bergen, Norway, when their plane couldn’t land in Thorshaven, Feroe Islands due to wind and fog. The referees and UEFA representatives are also not on site yet. Now everybody is hoping to get to Thorshaven on Saturday, either by plane or by a five-hour ferry ride.

This means that there’s a good chance the game will be rescheduled:

On Sunday if the French manage to reach [the Faroe Islands] on Saturday; [or] at a later date if the weather continues to prevent their arrival. The French delegation will decide tonight on a possible request for postponement.

This would suck on several levels. First off, a five-hour ferry ride in wind and fog isn’t exactly conducive to stellar play. And if they don’t manage to play this weekend, it means Raymond won’t be able to make the necessary tweaks to his lineup before the more challenging Lithuania game on Wednesday. Or, if the game is played on Sunday, it would put the two games a day closer together, which makes it harder on the players — particularly the older ones and anybody coming back from injury.

A Sunday game would also be problematic for the Faroe team, because they’re currently scheduled to fly out on Sunday to get ready for their mid-week game in Ukraine. The Faroe Islands coach is not happy with this turn of events, saying that most teams arrive on-site three days in advance. He’s claiming that the France team have exhibited “professional misconduct” by not arriving one day before the match in accordance with the UEFA rules.

Oy. (So why didn’t France arrive earlier? Anybody?)

France World Cup Blog RSS Feed

Doumé

I suppose they wanted to stay as long as possible in the cozy Marcoussis (sp?) center where they work their magic. I think to do group stuff there, to sort of reinforce the team solidarity. Well, being stuck together in a plane for 11 hrs will surely help the team spirit in the face of adversity!
The consequences you expose could really cost a lot!
http://www.worldcupblog.org WC Bob

I would stay away from the Faroes as long as possible too. Those islands are rather inhospitable this time of year as the flight cancellation shows. It is a tough spot for both teams. Next time they should play in a neutral location that has better weather. Like Antarctica.
http://gamecorner.info/?p=14908 Games » France Team Stuck in Norway, Game May be Delayed

[...] Mac G wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIt’s kind of hard to play a football game when one of the teams is stuck in another country. That may be the case tomorrow, when France is scheduled to play in the Faroe Islands. According to l’Equipe, the France team was unexpectedly … [...]
Doumé

It looks like it’s on!

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20071013_005827Dev.html

L’Equipe says that they will not attempt to reschedule. They are planned to leave Bergen at 11am and arrive at Thorshaven at 12. Their morning practice on the field is off, but they know the place, so apparently it’s OK. They rested, played cards, and got fed according to schedule. Now if we could also get a referee!
http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/daily-dose-101307.html Daily Dose 10.13.07 – World Football – The Offside – Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the world

[...] least there are worse places to be stuck than Norway (France World Cup Blog) Category: World Football Tags: World Football, Tag Index « The Offside Rewind: Show [...]