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'French season will be played to end' says LFP president

'French season will be played to end' says LFP president

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Publish on 03/14 at 14:42 - I. HOLYMAN

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French Football League (LFP) President Nathalie Boy de la Tour has told French TV she is "convinced the season will be played to a finish" despite Ligue 1 play being suspended until further notice as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak.

Having initially ordered matches be played behind closed doors until 15 April, the LFP's Administrative Council voted on Friday to immediately suspend games in France's two professional divisions.

 

There are still ten Ligue 1 Conforama games to be played this season, while Paris Saint-Germain and RC Strasbourg Alsace have 11, in addition to the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue finals.

 

Bordeaux held Marseille to a 0-0 draw on Sunday.

 

While there is uncertainty over the future of the 2019/20 domestic and European season, Boy de la Tour believes Ligue 1 will — eventually — be played to a finish.

 

"I think there are a lot of alternative solutions that might exist, but I'm not thinking about them because I'm convinced we'll go to the end of the championship, and we're now giving ourselves the means to do that," she told BeIN SPORTS on Saturday. 

 

"There are still a lot of weeks ahead of us, and we have the opportunity to play several games a week. So there are alternative solutions that will enable us to finish it and it's those that we are giving priority to."

 

The LFP will make a further assessment of the situation following Tuesday's meeting of UEFA at which the fate of this summer's UEFA EURO 2020 tournament as well as the Champions League and Europa League will be discussed.

 


 

Should the EURO be moved to 2021, June would then be an option to play domestic league and cup games, as well as wrap up European competitions.

 

But with the situation still evolving, Boy de la Tour remains cautious about future plans.

 

"It will be the health authorities who have the final word," she explained. "We're also waiting to see what comes out of the UEFA meeting on Tuesday, because that could open new perspectives on the way we can proceed."

 

>> NEWS: How Ligue 1 teams have responded to coronavirus


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