The French Football Championship, interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, will not be resumed. This follows from a statement made by Prime Minister Edward Philip. He announced that until September a ban on sporting events would be in force in the republic.
“Large sporting events are postponed until at least September. The resumption of the 2019/20 season, in particular in football, is impossible, ”ESPN quotes Philippe.
League 1 will be the first among the five major European football championships, the season in which will end ahead of schedule. Previously, only in the Netherlands it was announced that the national championship was canceled, and the title would not be played, which caused a storm of discontent among the Dutch clubs. The reluctance to play out the season was also reported in Belgium, but a final decision has not yet been made there.
Prior to the season stop in Ligue 1, 28 rounds of 38 were played, with the exception of the Paris Saint-Germain and Strasbourg match. The leader of the standings at the moment is PSG, which is 12 points ahead of Marseille. Also in April, the finals of the Cup of the country and the League Cup were to be held in France. PSG claimed both trophies, which Saint-Etienne and Lyon could challenge, respectively.
In the Professional Football League (LFP), which holds League 1 and League 2 matches, as well as organizes the French League Cup, they did not promptly respond to the statement of the head of government. Questions about whether the French championship will be declared valid and how tickets to the European competitions will be distributed are still open.
According to RMC Sport, LFP will consider three options for the final distribution of places in League 1. Teams will be classified either by the average number of points scored, or by the results of 27 full rounds played, or by the results of the first round. In all three cases, PSG, Marseille and Rennes will receive tickets to the Champions League, while Lille will be able to play in the Europa League. Toulouse will be downgraded as the team taking the last place. Depending on the chosen option, either Amiens or Nimes will repeat her fate.
The ban on holding competitions in France until September may affect the matches of the Champions League, in which PSG and Lyon continue to participate. Paris President Nasser Al-Helaifi has already stated that if the tournament resumes in August, as the Union of European Football Associations calculates, the team will play abroad.
“We respect the decision of the French government. By agreement with UEFA, we intend to participate in the final rounds of the Champions League this season at the time and place where it will be organized. If it’s impossible to play in France, we will play abroad, guaranteeing that our players and all our staff will be in the best possible state of health, ”Al-Helaifi quoted ESPN as saying.
In general, the decision to prematurely end the season in France was welcomed by representatives of the clubs. Agreed with the order of the government expressed the president of Toulouse Olivier Sadran, the president of Nice Jean-Pierre River and the head coach of Marseille Andre Villas-Boas, reports L'Equipe.
A statement on the need to postpone football competitions until the next season was also made by the chairman of the medical committee of the International Football Federation (FIFA) Michel D'Hoget. According to him, the hasty resumption of tournaments could lead to the second wave of the spread of coronavirus. The specialist believes that the end of August and the beginning of September will be the best time for holding the first matches after the break.
At the same time, the President of the Spanish Examples, Javier Tebas, expressed his disagreement with the decision of the neighbors on the early completion of the championship. He said that football is important for Spain from an economic point of view, and therefore, football tournaments in the country need to be resumed soon.
“I don’t understand why playing football behind closed doors with all the precautions is more dangerous than working in a factory or going out on a fishing boat to the open sea. If important sectors of the economy cannot resume work in a safe and controlled environment, they may disappear. The same goes for professional football. In other countries, teams are already training, and we must follow suit. Football in Spain is an important engine of the economy that needs to be re-activated along with many others. We are still striving to restart it as soon as possible - responsibly and taking into account the recommendations of the doctors, ”said Tbas.
Previously, the first case of coronavirus infection was detected among League 1 players. On April 25, it became known that the Montpellier footballer Junior Sambia passed the positive test. He had to enter into a state of artificial coma. Soon, the agent of the 23-year-old athlete Frederic Guerra reassured the fans, saying that Sambia was feeling better and had been removed from the ventilator.