The French prime minister, Edouard Philippe, has announced there will be no professional football in the country until at least September and the 2019-20 season in Ligue 1 and 2 will therefore end immediately. The French leagues thus become the third and largest European League to end their season, after Eredivisie in Netherlands, and Belgium’s Pro League, but it is not fully clear yet if PSG, Ligue 1 leaders, will be appointed champions or not.
Matches in France have been suspended since the start of March because of the coronavirus pandemic, with several players having agreed to defer up to 50% of their salaries to help their clubs through the crisis after broadcasters initially withheld TV rights. Whereas Germany’s Bundesliga looks set to resume in May 2020 behind closed doors, Philippe’s speech to the National Assembly on Tuesday confirmed that France was unwilling to risk a further outbreak by sanctioning the return of professional sport.
“The big sporting affairs cannot occur before September,” he said. “The 2019-20 professional football season cannot return.”
The league’s governing body, the Ligue de Football Professionnel, is expected to meet next month to discuss how to end the season and resolve issues such as Champions League qualification, promotion and relegation. In the Netherlands the Eredivisie season was cancelled without a champion being crowned and without any relegations for next season. This naturally left some clubs and managers frustrated, including those from lower divisions seeking promotion.
Last week, broadcasters BeIN Sports and Canal+ agreed a compromise that will see them pay the LFP a portion of the TV rights having withheld around €130m when fixtures were initially suspended. The remaining amount is due at the end of June but clubs are understood to have been informed that they will be paid in full despite the failure to resume playing.
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were 12 points clear at the top of Ligue 1, with 10 rounds of matches and one outstanding fixture left to play. It remains to be seen what happens for the club, though it is unlikely that they will be appointed champions. It could be early days: interestingly in Belgium, after the Pro League was ended and a champion declared, the formal ratification of that decision has been postponed twice, fuelling speculation that the decision could be reversed if lockdown lifts.
“We respect of course the French government decision,” said PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi. The fans wait with bated breath.
(from The Guardian UK and the Evening Standard)