THE start of the new Ligue 1 season is in jeopardy with EIGHT clubs recording positive coronavirus tests.
According to Get French Football News, Monaco confirmed a first-team player had caught the deadly bug, meaning almost half of France’s 20 top-flight teams have been affected.
Monaco became the latest French side to confirm a positive case of coronavirus within their campCredit: Reuters
The new Ligue 1 campaign was due to begin this weekend with Marseille taking on Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux hosting Nantes tonight.
But the former game was postponed back to the middle of September with four members of the playing and coaching staff at Marseille testing positive.
However, the French league told clubs last week its protocol for dealing with coronavirus meant more than three positive cases at a club was likely to lead to a postponement.
That could therefore mean matches involving clubs with a singular positive result could still go ahead.
Two games are due to take place on Saturday, while five ties are planned for Sunday.
Sunday’s fixtures include Monaco’s curtain-raiser at home to Reims, which was scheduled to kick off at noon in the principality’s Stade Louis II.
Clubs are preparing to welcome a limited number of fans into grounds for the matches with strict rules in place.
Supporters must stick to their seat location, keep socially distanced to 1.5m and everyone aged 11 or older must wear a mask at all times.
PSG and Lyon will not be involved this weekend due to their involvement in the Champions League semi-finals.
Thomas Tuchel’s side beat RB Leipzig 3-0 to reach Sunday’s final in Lisbon.
That came after they were awarded the Ligue 1 2019/20 title in April when the season was cut short by the pandemic.
Instead of resuming the campaign behind closed doors like in Germany, England, Spain and Italy, the French top flight opted to use a points-per-game basis to determine the standings instead.
Reports this week revealed the Premier League has been hit by 14 new cases of coronavirus from 12 clubs since teams returned to pre-season training.
The new Ligue 1 season was due to start this weekend but now eight clubs have had positive coronavirus tests Credit: EPA
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
