Paris Saint-Germain was named as Ligue 1 champions on Thursday after France’s football league declared the coronavirus-hit season over, leaving some other clubs disappointed and pondering legal action.
PSG led the table by 12 points from Marseille when the season was suspended in mid-March because of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has killed over 24,000 people in France.
Paris Saint-Germain superstars Kylian Mbappe (right) and Neymar celebrate their recent win. (AFP)
The announcement by the LFP comes after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Tuesday that “professional sports leagues, notably football, cannot restart” because of the pandemic.
“There is no ambiguity about this declaration. We needed to make a final decision about this season. We acknowledge that the 2019-20 season is over,” said LFP president Nathalie Boy de la Tour, in a conference call with reporters.
France becomes the biggest European league yet to end its season, just as its neighbours in England, Germany, Italy and Spain consider ways of resuming matches.
Ruling out any possibility of copying the Netherlands, who voided their season without a champion, relegation or promotion, the LFP arranged a final table on the basis of average points per game.
Ten rounds of matches remained when the campaign was halted, although PSG and Strasbourg both had a game in hand.
As a result, PSG are champions with an average of 2.52 points per game, with Andre Villas-Boas’s Marseille second with an average of 2 points and qualifying for the Champions League.
– Title dedicated to health workers –
“We wish to dedicate this title to all health workers and other everyday heroes whose commitment and self-sacrifice throughout these long weeks deserve our admiration,” said PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi.
It is PSG’s ninth French title, the seventh in eight seasons for the Qatar-owned club being awarded in unique circumstances and with many of their foreign players — including Neymar — having returned to their home countries with France under strict lockdown.
“We understand, respect and support the decisions taken by the French government to stop the season. Health, as the government has always said, must be everyone’s priority,” added Al-Khelaifi, whose club still hope to be able to continue their Champions League campaign having reached the quarter-finals before action stopped.
Rennes finish third and also qualify for the Champions League, while fourth-placed Lille will play in the Europa League.
Toulouse and Amiens, the bottom two, are condemned to relegation, with Lorient, as champions, and Lens coming up from Ligue 2. The usual promotion and relegation play-offs, meanwhile, have been ditched. (AFP)
