All matches of the French championship scheduled by April 15 will take place "In camera", The Professional Football League (LFP) announced on Tuesday (March 10th) after government measures taken due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.
The LFP said in a statement that the modalities of the closed games will be defined at the meeting of its office Wednesday. Before this decision, only the Lyon-Reims, Friday (8:45 p.m.), and Montpellier-Marseille, Saturday (5:30 p.m.) meetings had already been officially announced behind closed doors.
🚨 The @LFPfr ruled today on the holding of the matches of @ Ligue1Conforama and @ DominosLigue2 in closed session … https://t.co/UV8CZuFeJi
Sports minister Roxana Maracineanu said on Tuesday that all football matches between now and April 15 should comply with a ministerial order banning the gathering of more than 1,000 people.
France-Ukraine and France-Finland behind closed doors
The next two preparation games for Euro-2020 Blues, against Ukraine and Finland in late March, will also take place behind closed doors at the Stade de France, announced Tuesday the president of the French Federation, Noël Le Graët , in accordance with restrictions related to coronavirus.
"A match in Lyon makes no sense", said the director at the microphone of the BFM TV channel, indicating that France-Finland, scheduled for March 31 near Lyon, would be relocated to Saint-Denis, where the Blues face Ukraine four days earlier (March 27).
The Spanish and Portuguese Championships behind closed doors
The Spanish government ordered Tuesday (March 10th) that all sporting events be held behind closed doors in the country for at least two weeks, including matches in the first division football championship, the next two days of which will be held without audience in the stands.
The next matches of the Portuguese soccer championships 1re and 2e divisions will also be played behind closed doors due to the epidemic caused by the new coronavirus, the national federation announced on Tuesday without specifying the duration of this measure. Portugal has so far recorded around 40 confirmed cases of contagion from the new coronavirus.
As for the Lisbon half-marathon, which was to take place on March 22 with some 30,000 registrants, it has been postponed to September 6, the organizers announced on Tuesday.
