PSG confirmed as Ligue 1 champions despite season being scrapped in boost to Liverpool if Premier League follow suit
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PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN have been handed the Ligue 1 title despite the 2019-20 campaign being cancelled, according to reports.
With a 12-point lead and a game in hand, the gap to Les Parisiens would have been considered practically insurmountable under normal circumstances.
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However their title credentials were thrown into major doubt earlier this week when the French government banned all football until September due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But their efforts will not go to waste, as the French FA officially crowned PSG champions on a points-per-game basis.
It effectively keeps the Ligue 1 table as it was when play was halted following matches on March 8.
Every side has played 28 games apart from PSG and Strasbourg, with 27.
Strasbourg stand to only move up from 11th to 10th if their ratio of 1.4 points-per-game is applied to their missing match.
Therefore Marseille and Rennes would maintain their qualification to the Champions League with Lille and Reims reaching the Europa League.
Uefa recently asked any leagues finishing early to decide qualification spots on "sporting merit", leaning heavily towards a points-per-game calculation with an alternative play-off route considered infeasible for many.
On Tuesday, French prime minister Edouard Philippe announced the official end of the 2019-20 campaign as he confirmed that all team and contact sports will be banned until September.
Lyon and PSG's Champions League fixtures were also left in jeopardy given that they were earmarked for August.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of the Ligue 1 champions' elect, insisted that those matches could be held to abroad to circumvent the French ban.
Like the Premier League, LaLiga and Serie A, Ligue 1 sides were previously plotting a return to training next month before resuming matches behind closed doors from the middle of June.
German Bundesliga sides are already back at work and await government approval on a restart on May 9, with an update expected from Angela Merkel on Thursday.
There are calls from across Europe to cancel football in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic with players and medical staff also reportedly hesitant to return to action.
And some feel the precedent set by France could be followed elsewhere, something fans of league leaders Liverpool would hope to be the case if the Premier League cannot be finished.
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Meanwhile, broadcasters Canal+ have cancelled their contract with Ligues 1 and 2 - meaning the leagues miss out on around £200million in further TV money.
Earlier this week, Canal+ inserted a clause in their contract following the latest coronavirus update from the French government, which wiped out the remainder of the season.
The clause meant they now do not need to pay for the rest of the season after all games were called off.
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