Coronavirus: Paris Saint-Germain awarded league title after French football season ends early
PSG had a 12-point lead over second-placed Marseille when the season was suspended - as attention now turns to the Premier League.
Thursday 30 April 2020 20:04, UK
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned champions after the French football season ended early due to the coronavirus crisis - in a potential boost for Liverpool in their quest for a first league title in 30 years.
PSG had a 12-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 with 11 games left to play when it was suspended as part of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The Premier League is yet to reveal how it plans to finish its season after being halted due to coronavirus, with Liverpool sitting 25 points clear at the top with nine games remaining.
PSG were awarded the league title after France's prime minister Edouard Philippe announced that no sporting events will take place in the country until at least September.
A points-per-game system was used to determine the final standings in the Ligue 1 table.
Marseille, in second place, have qualified directly for the Champions League while third-place Rennes will enter the qualifying rounds.
Toulouse and Amiens have been relegated from the top flight. Lorient have been crowned champions of Ligue 2 and Lens will also be promoted.
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Didier Quillot, chief executive of the French League, said: "We have decided there would be two promotions and two relegations.
"There might be appeals but our decisions are solid."
In Spain, the government has approved La Liga's plans for clubs to test their players for the coronavirus before they return to training as the league looks to restart the season in June.
La Liga president Javier Tebas said not finishing the season would lead to collective losses of up to one billion euros.
Last week the Dutch league ended with immediate effect without a club being declared champions and with no promotions or relegations.
Ajax were top of the Eredivisie table, ahead of AZ Alkmaar on goal difference, with nine rounds of matches to play when the season was suspended.
England's top-flight clubs will hold further talks on how the season can be restarted at their next shareholders' meeting on Friday.
Part of the "Project Restart" discussions will centre around the use of approved venues, which may mean teams playing on neutral grounds and immediately throws up questions over competition integrity.
Even if the season is restarted, Liverpool could be denied the opportunity to seal the Premier League title at Anfield if public health concerns are factored into where the final matches are played.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the UK's national football policing lead, said playing all the remaining matches at their original venues would "present challenges" to the emergency services already stretched by the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Meanwhile, Liverpool have criticised comments made by the city's mayor over the potential restart of the Premier League season.
Joe Anderson told the BBC that plans to resume the league were a "non-starter", fearing a "farcical" situation with fans congregating outside Anfield - even if Liverpool win the title at a neutral venue.
Liverpool called the mayor's comments "disappointing".