Paris (AFP)

Ligue 1 ordered to review its copy. The government's announcement on Tuesday cut short the possibility of an imminent recovery, opening a period of uncertainty for French football faced with the "worst-case scenario", the definitive end to the current season.

For several weeks, the clubs have been working on the conditions for a resumption of competition on June 17, with a view to completing July 25 the most chaotic exercise in their recent history.

Their plan A suffered a brutal stop Tuesday. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has shattered hopes for a summer of football, even behind closed doors.

This is the "worst-case scenario" mentioned by several L1 presidents, namely the final suspension of the Championship, which they will now have to run, with the prospect of a return to competition possibly in August, as indicated in AFP by the Ministry of Sports.

- Aulas is looking for an "alternative" -

The LFP will meet its Bureau Thursday, before a meeting to be fixed by its Board of Directors which will have to formally decide on the judgment of Ligue 1.

We will have to decide whether, this summer, we must first finish the current exercise, as suggested by certain actors who plan to start in January 2021 the next cycle, or start the new one, initially scheduled to start on August 7.

"If we are forced to resume in August, it is very likely that the season will end now, otherwise we will kill next season," said the president of a Ligue 1 club with AFP, very worried. "I really do not see how we could end it, we must not dream," insisted another president.

In the evening, the President of the Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët also marked the "definitive" end of the season in L1, but also in Ligue 2, in National and in the first female division, in an interview with the Breton daily The Telegram, pending the final decision of the Professional Football League (LFP).

Against the flow, the President of Lyon Jean-Michel Aulas hammered him to AFP that it was necessary "to do everything to find an alternative solution" allowing the end of the 2019-20 financial year, explaining not to have "a reading as final "government announcements.

Restarting from a blank page would, however, activate the new TV rights contract with Mediapro, which is more lucrative. But it would leave a doubt around the Champions League, because UEFA plans, in one of its scenarios, to finish it in August, according to a document obtained by AFP.

The question of the modalities of the end of the season will not fail to rekindle the tensions between club presidents, already fueled by a month of cacophony since the interruption of the Championship in mid-March.

In the event of early stoppage, UEFA has established a framework for the allocation of European places. It is the "sporting merit" which must prevail, according to the classification decided at the time of the interruption.

But that raises a lot of questions: what criteria should be used to determine the final ranking? In France, three tracks were mentioned, depending on the criterion taken into account: the last full day contested (27th), the last day disputed (28th) or a point / match quotient as defined by the Federation (FFF) for its amateur championships. "But these are only hypotheses," insists a club president.

- Who in C3? -

One thing is certain, the podium would be occupied by Paris SG, Marseille and Rennes, in this order. But 4th, 5th, and 6th places, possibly synonymous with the Europa League, could sometimes return to Lille, Lyon and Montpellier (stop at the 27th day), sometimes to Lille, Reims and Nice (quotient points / match).

In any case, the Federation has already ruled out the hypothesis of the "white season" without being promoted or relegated. As for the option to calculate the classification at the end of the first leg, that is after 19 days, it was not retained by the FFF for its amateur championships.

It will also be a question of deciding on any ascents and descents between Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and National 1.

All these subjects will undoubtedly have to be decided during the General Assembly of the LFP, scheduled for "mid-May" and whose exact date will be fixed by the Board of Directors. The decisions must then be communicated to UEFA, the body having left associations until 25 May to send them their criteria.

© 2020 AFP