Jean-Michel Aulas claims that since the 2019-20 season was postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the Ligue 1 season will be ended by play-offs.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe declared that no sporting events will be allowed to take place until September: “Till September, no major sporting activities can’t happen.”
Addressing a national assembly, he also said, “We can’t go back to 2019-20 football season.” He therefore confirmed that in the midst of the ongoing fight against coronavirus, and with France still in a lockdown, Ligue 1 could not resume before September.
However, Aulas claims that games that were played on a one-off basis behind closed doors might allow the season to be played. Aulas said: “I read what UEFA said carefully, they wanted us to go all the way to the end of the tournaments, even though we would have to compete on a shortened basis and in August.”
Indeed, UEFA has also confirmed that they want all domestic league seasons finished by August 2, and that the qualifying for next season’s continental tournaments will be based on “sporting merit” rather than on any other arbitrary grounds.
