Luzenac: "I will not yield to political pressure, no matter the source" (Frederic Thiriez)

"I understand that Thierry Braillard [the secretary of state for sport] is under pressure from his Ariège political friends. But the Ligue is only applying the rules that are the same for all clubs; they are binding for Luzenac just like for the others, obviously out of fairness," said Frédéric Thiriez, president of the LFP (French Professional Football League), on 18/08/2014.

"I will not yield to political pressure, no matter the source," continued Thiriez, in an early-evening press release.

Thiriez's reaction took place about a dozen hours after these remarks from Braillard on France Info (a French public radio broadcaster): "There is a kind of hypocrisy in the LFP, which prevents amateur clubs from being promoted into the professional world via strict, rigid regulations. Either we keep a sort of exclusive clique composed of 18 clubs in Ligue 1, or we can maintain competitive interest in the championships. It would be unacceptable for Luzenac to not play in Ligue 2 or in National. The rules concerning appeals are outdated. We'll have to get together and see how to change all of…