Ligue 1 Opener Postponed After 3 New Coronavirus Cases

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Ligue 1 Opener Postponed After 3 New Coronavirus Cases

Ligue 1’s opening game of the season has been postponed after another three confirmed coronavirus cases at Marseille.

That takes the number of players and backroom staff who have contracted the virus up to four after left-back Jordan Amavi tested positive last week.

Marseille were due to take on St Etienne in the season opener on Friday night, but the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) have now postponed the match.

“In view of medical results passed on by Olympique Marseille… the LFP has decided to postpone the Olympique de Marseille/AS Saint-Etienne game to Sept 16 or Sept 17”, the LFP said in statement.

The game was the only fixture set for Friday, with the rest of Ligue 1’s first-round matches for 2020/21 spread out over Saturday and Sunday.

The LFP told clubs last week it had set up a “COVID committee” to advise on whether to postpone matches. When a club reports more than three coronavirus cases postponement is likely, based on the “COVID protocol” the LFP sent out to the clubs.

Ligue 1 club Nimes have also announced “two suspected cases” ahead of their game against Brest on Sunday.

Almost 40 players from 11 Ligue 1 clubs have tested positive for COVID-19, including some at Saint-Etienne.