French football braced for bad news as Ligue 1 & Ligue 2 unlikely to resume before August

Ligue 1 & Ligue 2 unlikely to resume before August

Le Parisien have broken the potentially awful news for French football on Tuesday morning, that there’s likely to be a ban on Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 matches before August 2020.

The report has been published ahead of an upcoming address by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe at 3 pm local time.

Edouard Philippe is poised to announce the latest set of social distancing measures in France.

And, according to a source who has spoken to Le Parisien, that could well include a note about football:

No one can rule it out that, with a sentence at the end of the speech, the Prime Minister will reveal an update on sport.

(Sport) is not the priority. This does not mean, however, that certain decisions have not already been taken.

Le Parisien believe that French authorities are gearing up to announce a ban on all sporting events until August.

The French authorities aren’t in favour of playing football matches behind closed doors, report Le Parisien.

[Info Le Parisien] La Ligue 1 et la Ligue 2 pourraient ne pas reprendre avant le mois d’août https://t.co/Kq4YDoytE5 pic.twitter.com/eX9FAtLz9B

— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) April 28, 2020

 

Does this mean the 2019-20 Ligue 1 & Ligue 2 seasons are over?

Dutch football has recently faced a similar situation.

After the government announced a ban all public sporting events until September 1, the Eredivisie announced that the 2019-20 season was finished.

So will Ligues 1 and 2 follow suit? Le Parisien note that they can’t say that for certain.

One theory floating around France is that the 2019-20 season could be completed from September until December.

Le Parisien note that Nice and Lyon owners, Jean-Pierre Rivère and Jean-Michel Aulas, have pushed for this option.

 

Covid-19 & France

According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been 165,977 confirmed Covid-19 cases in France.

France have also suffered 23,293 fatalities due to the virus.

 

Also see: Nasser Al-Khelaifi warns that PSG risk ‘colossal financial losses’ due to Covid-19.

Canal Plus & beIN Sports’ refusal to pay Ligue 1 & 2 rights fees raise Premier League payment fears.

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