French Cup final has been brought forward to 29 April to allow players to rest before the FIFA World Cup finals.

Date changed
The showpiece was originally scheduled for 20 May but the French Football Federation (FFF) has opted to switch dates because of France's involvement in this summer's tournament in Germany. "The decision was made to safeguard the rest period between 14 and 22 May requested by FIFA," the FFF said. The semi-finals will take place on 20 April, with the last-eight ties being held next week.

Lucrative deal
The FFF has also announced a new television rights deal with TF1 for the broadcast of national team matches from June 2006 until June 2010. The annual fee will rise from €27 to €45.3m over the course of that period. "It's a big relief for the FFF and an encouraging sign for French football," said federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes.

Postponed games
Finally, the French league authorities have rescheduled the postponed game between AS Monaco FC and Olympique Lyonnais as well as the match between FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and FC Girondins de Bordeaux for Thursday 23 April. Ligue 1 organisers were keen for all postponed ties to be played before the 36th round of fixtures, thus ensuring that all teams go into the last three matchdays with just three games remaining.