New on Sports Illustrated: Ligue 1 to Be Called Off as French Government Prevents Return From Happening

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France's government has put an end to any hope that Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 would complete their current seasons.

Ligue 1 appears to be going the way of the Dutch Eredivisie, after French government determined that no matches–not even ones played behind closed doors–can take place before Sept. 1, effectively ending the season. 

French prime minister Edouard Philippe announced as much as part of a bigger-picture speech to the National Assembly regarding the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, bringing the season to a screeching, premature halt. The league has yet to make an official comment.

The development impacts Ligue 1 and second-tier Ligue 2 clubs, who had hoped to return to training in a few weeks in anticipation of resuming matches in empty stadiums in June. It's unclear what it means for places in European competition, promotion and relegation and league champions. PSG was running away with the top-flight title again, leading second-place Marseille by 12 points and with a game in hand. Things are considerably more tense in Ligue 2, where the top five teams are separated by four points.

At the bottom of the Ligue 1 table, Toulouse was all but certain to go down, with just 13 points on the season and trailing 18th-place Nimes–in the relegation playoff spot–by 14 points. Amiens currently occupies the other automatic relegation spot.

Should Ligue 1 follow the Eredivisie's lead completely, then there would be no championship awarded this season, promotion and relegation would be frozen and European places would be determined based on the current state of the table. That would be a tough pill to swallow for Lille, which sits in fourth place, one point behind Reims for a spot in the Champions League qualifying rounds. Instead, it would be sent to the Europa League. All of that is reportedly set to be determined at a Ligue de Football Professionnel meeting next month, though.

Another wrinkle is what happens to French teams involved in European competition. Just because Ligue 1 is shutting down, doesn't mean those clubs are prohibited from taking part in the Champions League, which–for now, anyway–still intends to be finished. PSG is one of the four teams to have sealed a quarterfinal berth before matches were suspended, while Lyon holds a 1-0 aggregate lead over Juventus after their last-16 first leg. If the competition resumes, it certainly doesn't look viable for PSG or Lyon to host any of the home legs going forward. UEFA's intention is to complete the Champions League by playing the final on Aug. 29 in Istanbul.

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