Football: PSG crowned Ligue 1 champions in 3-peat

Leaders handed title after French League endorses directives to end season early

Paris Saint-Germain players celebrating with the Ligue 1 trophy last year. They have been crowned champions for the third year running, after the French League decided to end the season prematurely.
Paris Saint-Germain players celebrating with the Ligue 1 trophy in 2019. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

PARIS • Paris Saint-Germain have been awarded the Ligue 1 title - their third consecutive trophy - after the season was ended amid the Covid-19 crisis, said the French League (LFP) yesterday.

The LFP Board held a meeting yesterday to rubber-stamp the decision following Tuesday's announcement by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.

He had said that "professional sports leagues, notably football, cannot restart" because of the risks linked to the coronavirus pandemic, with large gatherings remaining banned until September.

This meant games could not even be played behind closed doors and an LFP board member, who declined to be named, said the top flight had to "follow directives, and the government has decreed that the leagues be stopped".

PSG, now champions for the seventh time in eight years, had a 12-point lead over second-placed Marseille (56) when the season was suspended on March 13. The LFP also crowned Lorient as Ligue 2 champions in a conference call.

"We have decided there would be two promotions and two relegations," Didier Quillot, the chief executive of the French League, told a news conference.

It means Amiens and Toulouse will be relegated to Ligue 2, while Lorient and Lens will be promoted.

"There might be appeals but our decisions are solid," Quillot added.

Ten rounds of matches remained when the campaign was halted, although PSG and Strasbourg both had a game in hand.

As a result, Marseille and Rennes will also go into the Champions League next season, while fourth-placed Lille will play in the Europa League.

The identity of the other European representatives depends on whether the finals of the French Cup and the French League Cup are played. If the French government and Uefa accept, both cup finals could yet be staged in August.

Lyon - seventh in the table when the season was stopped - risk missing out on European qualification for the first time in over two decades.

  • 7

  • Ligue 1 titles in eight years for Paris Saint-Germain after the French league decided to freeze the current standings and end the season prematurely.

The decision whether to end a league prematurely or to allow for its resumption at considerable risk has also left German officials in a bind.

The Bundesliga had pencilled in a May 9 restart - some two months after it was stopped on March 13 due to the Covid-19 crisis - and it had been hoping to receive the green light from German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday.

However, given the concerns surrounding a spike in Covid-19 cases since several lockdown measures were eased last week, a decision to resume play was not made at the high-level meeting, according to multiple media reports.

As such, the German league will not recommence until May 16 at the earliest, with Mrs Merkel to review the situation next Wednesday.

But local politicians do not want to be railroaded into a decision that could have long-lasting effects.

Dietmar Woidke, who serves as the Minister-President of the German state of Brandenburg, yesterday told daily Frankfurter Allgemeine: "Playgrounds are closed, daycare centres are closed, Bundesliga is playing again - that does not really fit together."

The fears over football possibly exacerbating the crisis if matches are given the go-ahead has also led Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora to cast doubt on whether the Serie A season can be finished.

Referencing the decision to call off the French and Dutch leagues, he hinted Italy could follow their lead, despite 12 rounds remaining, saying on Wednesday night: "I see an increasingly narrow path for the resumption of the Serie A.

"If I were one of the (club) presidents, I would focus on the next season.

"These decisions (in France and the Netherlands) could push Italy to follow this line, which would become a European line."

No firm decision has been scheduled for the restart of Serie A, which has been on ice since March 9, although Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said training could possibly be allowed from May 18.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 01, 2020, with the headline Football: PSG crowned Ligue 1 champions in 3-peat. Subscribe