Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as the champions of France despite the season being ended early due to the Coronavirus pandemic, according to reports.
France’s top-flight season was called to a halt on Tuesday, but L’Equipe are now reporting that PSG have been awarded the title for the 2019-20 campaign.
At the bottom, meanwhile, the finalised table based on a points/match ratio is bad news for Amiens and Toulouse, who look set to be relegated to Ligue 2 despite still having 10 matches still to play.
Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille and Rennes are set to qualify for next season’s Champions League, while Lille, Reims and Nice will be awarded Europa League spots.
The decision is also good news for Ligue 2 high-flyers FC Lorient and RC Lens, who would be promoted into Ligue 1 for the 2020-21 season.
Third-bottom Nimes, although in the relegation zone, appear to be set to keep their place in the top flight, given there will be no Ligue 2 play-offs and a chance for a third team to earn promotion from the second tier.
The season’s last round of fixtures were played on March 7 and 8, and the final standings see PSG sitting 12 points clear of second-placed Marseille with a game in hand.
If indeed PSG are awarded the trophy, it will be their third consecutive triumph, and the ninth league title in their history.
On Tuesday afternoon, it was announced by France’s Prime Minister Edouard Philippe that the return of games will not be authorised before September, even behind closed doors, as part of the next stage of the country’s lockdown plans.
In a statement, Philippe said: ‘The big sporting affairs cannot occur before September. The 2019-20 football season cannot return.’
A week prior to the announcement, the league had announced plans to resume on June 17, but that was curtailed by the French government.
Meanwhile, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and general secretary Theodore Theodoridis have spoken to leagues in Europe, including Ligue 1 and the Premier League, and asked them for a detailed plan on how they will finish the campaign.
A statement from European football’s governing body said: ‘National Associations and/or Leagues should be in a position to communicate to UEFA by May 25, 2020, the planned restart of their domestic competitions — including the date of restart and the competition format.’
Elsewhere in Europe, the Bundesliga in Germany has announced plans to return to action on May 9 behind closed doors while conversely the Eredivisie has been cancelled with major events in Holland banned until September due to the coronavirus outbreak.
But the Belgian leagues have delayed a further vote on cancelling their season despite being the first country to announce they would end the campaign. (DailyMail)
