Premier League may be in jeopardy as Ligue Un season over

The top two divisions in France are in severe doubt in news that could impact the Premier League.

Ligues 1 and 2 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 ruling out the prospect of any sporting event even being played behind closed doors in the next few months.

“The big sporting affairs cannot occur before September,” he said at a national assembly on Tuesday. “The 2019/20 football season cannot return.”

There is yet to be an official statement from the French Football Federation but Philippe’s update will be critical to Ligue Un 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.

Two countries – Netherlands and Belgium – have already cancelled their seasons, with no Eredivisie champion declared by the former and Club Brugge crowned by the latter.

 

We could not keep away from the camera for long so we made a Football365 Isolation Show. Watch it, subscribe and share until we get back in the studio/pub and produce something a little slicker…