Lyon's crusade against the early end to the Ligue 1 season is being fuelled by a bombshell UEFA revelation.
The club are legally challenging French football authorities' decision to terminate the campaign with 10 matches remaining amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, Lyon were denied the opportunity to compete for Champions League football, with Paris Saint-Germain declared champions.
The season was brought to a halt after French Minister for Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, supported the league's position, claiming UEFA had imposed an August 3 deadline for fulfilling the remaining fixtures.
However, a letter to Aulas from UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin insists the date was only a recommendation, indicating Ligue 1 could possibly have used the entire month to finish the term.
Reported in Le Parisien, the letter read: “As for whether UEFA has actually given its member associations a deadline of August 3 to finish their national championships, the following clarification should answer your question.
"The dates of July 20th (for national associations classified 16 to 55) and August 3rd (for those classified 1 to 1.5, which includes France) were described in the presentations made at meetings with secretaries and presidents of 55 UEFA member associations on 21st April and at meetings between UEFA, the European Club Association and Union of European Leagues working groups.
"However, we have always mentioned during these meetings that these dates are only recommendations, provisional and not official. I hope that these explanations will provide sufficient answers to your questions.”
“During a videoconference on 23rd April, the UEFA executive committee unanimously stressed that the health of the players, spectators and all those involved in football as well as the general public must remain the main consideration at present.
"UEFA’s recommendation was [for] the national associations and leagues to do their best to complete the national championships in progress, either in the original format or in a suitable format, if necessary.
"The aim was to do everything to protect the competitions and guarantee the application of the principle of sporting merit.”
