Premier League club forced to cancel pre-season friendly following G7 summit disruption

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Brighton have cancelled a pre-season friendly in France after their training camp was plunged into chaos - by the helicopters used at the recent G7 summit . The Seagulls had planned base themselves at a hotel in Evian-les-Bains from Thursday, July 23 to Saturday, August 1 and use a set of nearby pitches to train.

But those same pitches were used as landing grounds when world leaders flew in for June's G7 summit in the French spa town. Those who touched down included United States President Donald Trump , former UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron , the president of France.

The Athletic report that Brighton staff arrived at the hotel on Wednesday to prepare for the camp, only to report back that the pitches are unusable. The camp has been now abandoned and Saturday's friendly against Ligue 2 side Annecy won't go ahead.

Brighton have now arranged an alternative camp in Austria and their game against French top-flight side Strasbourg is still expected to be played next Saturday. Fabian Hurzeler's squad have remained in the UK and will play an in-house match behind closed doors on Saturday before flying to Austria on Sunday.

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After returning from Austria, Brighton are due to host Italian opposition in the form of Roma and Bologna before the start of the new Premier League season. The 2026-27 campaign is set to be a hectic one, with the Seagulls have qualified for the Conference League play-offs.

The draw will take place on Monday, August 3. Brighton will start their Premier League season at home to Aston Villa before heading to Chelsea the following weekend.

Hurzeler has already brought in six new players this summer, including Tottenham centre-back Luka Vuskovic for a club-record £46million. It comes after Brighton sold Jan Paul van Hecke to Tottenham for £52m.

Where will Brighton finish this season? Give us your prediction in the comments section .

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Brighton finished eighth last season and 'challenged the establishment', according to Hurzeler. "I think overall we did," the German said in a post-season interview with club media.

“Of course, we still see some improvements; we still see potential where we could have done better through the season, but overall we faced a lot of adversity, we faced a lot of challenges... But we always went through it; we always came back stronger."

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