France’s top two football leagues to not resume until September

PARIS: France’s top two football leagues, the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, will not resume after the authorities banned all sporting events, including behind closed doors, until September.

In this regard, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that the 2019-20 sporting season was over as he announced plans to ease France’s coronavirus lockdown on May 11.

However, Frech Prime Minister said, “The 2019-20 season of professional sports, including football, will not be able to resume.”

“It will be possible, on sunny days, to practice an individual sporting activity outdoors, obviously respecting the rules of social distancing,” he added. He further said, “It will not be possible, neither to practice sport in covered places, nor the team or contact sports.”

Earlier, French football’s governing body hoped to resume the season on June 17 and finish the campaign on July 25.

Defending champions Paris St-Germain are at the top of Ligue 1, with 10 rounds of matches and one fixture left to play.

Toulouse is bottom of the table, 17 points from safety, and 10 points behind Amiens. Nimes are 18th and in the relegation play-off spot, three points behind St Etienne on 17th.

The top five sides in Ligue 2 are separated by just four points, with Lorient and Lens currently occupying the automatic promotion spots. The LFP had previously met on 10 April and voted to resume the Ligue 1 season.