Coupe de France

Article 5
5.1 System of the tournament

1. This competition has priority over all competitions for seniors.

2. The French Cup is decided in two phases: qualifications over eight rounds and the competition proper consisting of six rounds fixed by the general calendar.

3. Are exempt from:

the first two rounds:

• clubs competing in the French Amateur Championship 2 (CFA2, the lowest national level)

• clubs in leagues which organized the first two rounds the preceding season, who were then competing in CFA 2 and have since been relegated (my note: this is because the first rounds take place more than a whole year before the end of the competition).

• The exemption of clubs from Honor Division (my note: the highest regional level) who have been promoted to CFA2 is determined by the Regional Leagues.

the first three rounds: clubs competing in the French Amateur Championship

the first four rounds: clubs competing in the National Championship

the first six rounds: clubs competing in Ligue 2

the first eight rounds: clubs competing in Ligue 1 and, if not competing in Ligue 1, the club competing in the UEFA cup due to having won the precedent French Cup.

4. Therefore, as an example :

At the start:
6 200 inscriptions
less the above 210 exemptions
5 990 contestants.

Epreuve éliminatoire:___________PARTICIPANTS________GAGNANTS
1er tour_____________________________3564_______________ 1782
2e tour 1782 + 2426 exempts 1er tour_________4208________________ 2104
3e tour 2104 + 100 exempts E_________________2204_______________ 1102
4e tour 1102 + 50 exempts D_____________1152_________________ 576
5e tour 576 + 20 exempts C _____________596__________________ 298
6e tour______________________________298_________________ 149
7e tour 149 + 7 outre-mer + 20 exempts (B)___176___________________ 88
8e tour _____________________________88___________________ 44
Compétition propre:
1/32e de finale 44+20exempts A __________64___________________ 32
1/16e de finale_______________________32____________________16
1/8e de finale________________________16____________________ 8
1/4 de finale _________________________8 ____________________ 4
1/2 finales___________________________ 4 ____________________ 2
Finale _______________________________2 ____________________ 1

5. The Commission can, taking into account the results of the preceding season decide on possible replacement of the clubs exempted as above.

5.2 ORGANISATION OF ROUNDS

a) Qualifications

1. The first six rounds, or the first five rounds if the calendar only requires 13 matchdays (my note: remember the example was based on 6200 clubs signing up, there could be fewer) are organized by the Regional Leagues.

For the first two rounds, the Regional Leagues have the choice of designating opponents by choice or be draw. Starting with the 3rd round the calendar is established by universal draw with a maximum of:

- six géographic groups for the 3rd round,
- three géographic groups for the 4th round,
- three géographic groups for the 5th round,
- one for the 6th round.

(my note: this is to reduce travel costs. indeed going "too far" in the Cup can be a tremendous financial burden for small clubs; note that if they manage to face a L2 or L1 club, they often forego their right to host, organizing such a match is beyond their means.)

The Regional Leagues have all latitude to create a supplementary group as long as each group is comprised of at leats 10 clubs. The composition of the groups is at the complete discretion of the Regional Leagues

2. For the 7th et 8th rounds, the clubs are distributed in groups of approximately equal level and containing as far as possible the same number of professional clubs. The number and composition of the groups is at the complete discretion of the Commission; within these groups opponents are determined by draw.

b) Competition proper

the clubs are designated according to the following conditions:
For the 1/32nd final, the clubs are distributed in four groups with, as far as possible, the same number Ligue 1, Ligue 2, National and amateurs amateur clubs, and taking into account the level of competition.

The composition of the groups is at the complete discretion of the Commission; within these groups opponents are determined by draw.

Starting with the 1/16th final, lthe draw is universal

c) Participation of teams from the D.O.M. and T.O.M. (overseas departments and territories)

Sporting and financial conditions for participation D.O.M. - T.O.M clubs are decided each season by the commission.
(note: these get subsidies for travel to france if they qualify for the later rounds, as otherwise none could afford to compete.)

et voilà!



by the way, thanks for your pdf. my primary reaction to your question "does anyone know how it works?" was a guffaw, because it's very complicated! actually the document answers loads of questions I had, about shirts, finances, home teams and stadium requirements; it's very complete and very interesting!