Both Ligue 1 and 2 are expected to be cancelled following news that no sporting events will take place in France before the month of August.
Image copyright – Steve Haag Sports
The nation’s top two leagues had been postponed along with most divisions across Europe and beyond due to the effects of the global pandemic.
Most clubs have ten games remaining before the season’s conclusion, with only leaders PSG and mid-table Strasbourg boasting a game in hand.
It was expected that clubs would start training in May with a view to returning properly in June, a similar plan to the Premier League and their reported ‘Project Restart’ and that of Italy, whose Prime Minister offered hope of a definition conclusion to the Serie A campaign in the near future earlier this week.
But the same can no longer be said for France, with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe expected to rule out the prospect of any sporting event even being played behind closed doors before August.
That is likely to see the professional season in France cancelled after UEFA gave its members a deadline of May 25 to provide plans to restart their respective seasons.
“National associations and/or leagues should be in a position to communicate to UEFA by 25 May 2020 the planned restart of their domestic competitions including the date of restart and the relevant competition format,” said an official statement on Tuesday.
That date falls two days before UEFA’s next Executive Committee conference call, at which point a decision over whether ongoing European competitions can be completed in August is expected to be made.
