Brest coach attacks UEFA: “They try to eliminate clubs like ours”
Éric Roy is concerned that the team will have to play more than 100 kilometres from home and pay a rent of 20 thousand euros per game, as the stadium has not been approved by the organisation that oversees European football.
Brest are the best French team in the Champions League , occupying seventh place in the standings in their debut in the millionaire competition . But their coach is not happy that UEFA is preventing the team from playing at home, at the Stade Francis-Le Blé.
At a press conference, Éric Roy spoke about Brest’s European performance: “We’re going to play all eight group stage games away from home, which makes our campaign even more extraordinary. We’re aware that these competitions are only for the big clubs and that they try to eliminate small clubs like ours. UEFA wants money for the sake of money. For small clubs like us, they try to minimise their ability to perform as much as possible.”
The team has been playing its home games in the Champions League at the Stade de Roudourou, home of Guingamp, currently in Ligue 2. And according to L’ Équipe , Brest pays 20,000 euros per game to rent the venue.
“What irritates me is that they are trying to eliminate all the people who enjoy football because they enjoy the uncertainty of the outcome, the fact that the little guy can beat the big guy,” Roy continued, criticising. “That’s why football is still the number one sport, because it’s the sport that generates the most uncertainty. Instead of trying to promote what’s extraordinary about our sport, where everyone can dream, we are trying to eliminate all that.”
Brest’s last game at the Stade de Roudourou will be against Real Madrid on matchday 8 of the Champions League phase . Before that, the team will play Shakhtar Donetsk as they fight for a place in the top eight of the standings and direct qualification for the round of 16 of the competition.
