OL Feminin Set To Be Awarded Fourteenth Consecutive League Title?

On Friday 13 March, all professional football in France was stopped as the coronavirus pandemic worsened around the continent. It was the day before the top two women’s teams in the country were due to meet in Paris. Paris Saint-Germain sat three points behind French and European champions, Olympique Lyonnais. Had the hosts won, the two teams would have been level going into the last five matches of the season.

A decision today by the Ligue de Football Professionne (LFP) confirmed that the top two men’s divisions will be decided on a points-per-game ratio based on the standings at the moment the league was postponed. In a tweet today, OL club president Jean-Michael Aulas asked the French governing bodies why his women’s team have not also been awarded the league title. If, as likely, the same precedent is applied to the women’s league, Olympique Lyonnais will be awarded the title of French champions for a remarkable fourteenth time in succession.

“We were to host Lyon on 14 March and then in the end, we do not face them. We do not know what could have happened” said Paris Saint-Germain head coach Olivier Echouafni speaking to Goal France. For PSG, there is there the consolation of a place in next season UEFA Women’s Champions League alongside Lyon, a competition both teams are still involved in this season. While their domestic league season is now over, Echouafni has to keep his squad ready in case their quarter-final against English champions Arsenal Women takes place, “we cannot say to the players that everything is stopped while there is still a possibility of playing the Champions League”.

On Tuesday, French Prime Minister Eduoard Philippe prohibited any event involving a crowd of more than 5,000 people until September. Even though crowds in France’s Division 1 Féminine average only 1,084, he also went on to add, “it will not be possible to practice sport in covered places, neither group sports, nor contact sports” effectively ending all hope of the country finishing its football season before the new one is set to start. In a statement on its top-flight women’s league the French Football Federation (FFF) said “the FFF notes the impossibility of continuing the season within the framework of these new health measures”.

In publishing the final standings of the men’s Ligue 1 today, the LFP confirmed the relegation to Ligue 2 of Amiens and Toulouse, who both may have mathematically stayed up had the season been played out. In a letter to the FFF and LFP, Toulouse President Olivier Sadran threatened the country’s governing bodies with legal action. “A relegation pronounced on the basis of the provisional classification at the end of the 27th or 28th matchday would constitute an unacceptable departure from the principles of fairness and sports ethics of which the LFP and the FFF are the guarantors. Any other decision, which does not allow Toulouse FC to assert its chances of continued sporting and fairness, would be immediately challenged before the relevant courts”. As things stand, Marseille and Metz would be relegated from the women’s top flight. More legal challenges may follow.

If the French system of points-per-game is applied to the English Women’s Super League, Chelsea currently in second place will be awarded the title ahead of current leaders Manchester City. Former WSL champions, Liverpool would be relegated to the second tier, the Women’s Championship. National Associations have until 25 May to inform the European governing body, UEFA, if they will seek to continue their seasons or cancel them.