Nigerian stars like Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon and Samuel Kalu, all playing in the French League, will have to stay inactive for a while as the Professional Football League (LFP) on Friday announced the suspension of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, France’s two fully professional football leagues, in response to the coronavirus situation in Europe.
The French Football Federation (FFF) suspended all football from the men’s semi-professional third tier downwards — as well as all three women’s leagues — on Thursday and the LFP has now aligned with that stance after initially opting to continue to play matches behind closed doors.
A statement read: “Following the President of the Republic’s announcement in response to the COVID-19 health crisis, the LFP board of directors unanimously decided this Friday to suspend Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 immediately until further notice.
“As the President said yesterday, collective interests must be placed above everything. Urgency today is to curb the epidemic, protect the most vulnerable and avoid travel.
“After UEFA’s scheduled meeting on March 17, the LFP board of directors will meet.”
With schools and universities across the country closing from Monday, both the LFP and FFF were left with little choice but to shut all leagues down after initially planning to adhere to government rules that limited public gatherings to 1,000 people.
Several Ligue 1 matches had already been postponed due to COVID-19, while Paris Saint-Germain, who lead Ligue 1, played Wednesday’s Champions League round-of-16 second leg clash at Parc des Princes against Borussia Dortmund behind closed doors.
