As announced, the Professional Football League decided, this Friday morning after an exceptional telephone board of directors, to suspend until further notice the championships of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 because of the pandemic of Covid-19 which affects France and the rest of the European continent.
The matches of the 29th day of L1 and L2, scheduled from Friday to Monday for almost all behind closed doors, will therefore not take place. This decision comes the day after the declaration of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, about the coronavirus pandemic.
In recent hours, coaches André Villas-Boas (Marseille) and Christophe Galtier (Lille) had notably advocated a temporary halt to the matches, like Nantes president Waldemar Kita. The union of professional football players (UNFP), invited to this board of directors, had previously announced its intention to speak out for footballers playing in France "mainly in favor of postponing competitions".
Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, @UNFP has been increasing contacts with players. The UNFP will participate, this Friday, in the meeting organized by @LFPfr and will speak for footballers playing in France, mainly in favor of a postponement of competitions! pic.twitter.com/klHlhCCHW5
- UNFP (@UNFP) March 13, 2020Economic consequences
March 10, gathered in college, the majority of clubs of L1 had already accepted the idea to dispute the meetings behind closed doors after the government announcement, March 9, to limit to 1000 people maximum any gathering. At the LFP office on March 11, President Nathalie Boy de la Tour, estimated “between 20 and 25 million euros” for the whole of Ligue 1 by the end of the season, the loss of profit that closed-door matches would represent in “match day revenue”. As for TV rights, the loss is estimated "at around 20 million euros per day", according to the figures put forward by the president.
Abroad, Italy has interrupted its championship since March 9, while three days later, Spain put La Liga on hold for two weeks. In the Premier League, the organizers of the English championship decided to hold an emergency meeting this Friday after Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal coach, tested positive for coronavirus.