AS Saint-Étienne lost 4-1 to Nice in the second leg of the promotion playoff, but the club is not giving up. An official appeal has been filed with the LFP, questioning the eligibility of Ali Abdi. The club believes that the Tunisian left-back was not eligible to play the match due to his international commitments and FIFA dates. The LFP has not yet ruled on the case, and no hearing date has been set. The chances of the playoff being overturned are slim, but the club is not giving up. In a context of persistent TV rights crisis and fragile budgets, several French clubs are approaching their DNCG hearings with caution. However, the regulations are clear: in the event of a place being freed up in the elite due to an administrative decision, the loser of the promotion playoff is the priority for reprieve. For AS Saint-Étienne, this detail changes everything. Sportively beaten, the club could become a candidate for promotion if another club were to stumble in front of the financial authorities. Nothing is certain, of course. It would require a heavy decision from the DNCG, followed by formal validation of the reprieve. But Saint-Étienne has a non-negligible argument: a financial situation presented as stabilized since the arrival of Kilmer Sports Ventures. The hope is slim, administrative, almost impossible. But in the Forez, we know that the offices can sometimes rewrite what the terrain has decided. AS Saint-Étienne waits, watches, and does not give up.