PARIS (Reuters) – The Professional Football League (LFP) announced on Tuesday the postponement of the opening match of the new Ligue 1 season between Olympique de Marseille and AS Saint-Etienne, due to at least four confirmed cases of contamination by the new coronavirus within the workforce of the Marseille club.
This match, originally scheduled for Friday at 7:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT) at the start of the first day of the French championship, could be played in mid-September depending on the evolution of the health situation.
“In view of the medical results transmitted by Olympique de Marseille this Tuesday, August 18 (…) the LFP therefore decides to postpone the Olympique de Marseille / AS Saint-Etienne match to Wednesday 16 or Thursday 17 September 2020 subject to the ‘evolution of sanitary conditions “at the OM, is it specified in a press release.
“The final date and time will be determined in agreement with the broadcaster.”
The OM-ASSE match was the only one scheduled for Friday. The other matches of the first day of Ligue 1 are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
(Myriam Rivet, with Sudip Kar-Gupta and Benoit Van Overstraeten; edited by Jean-Philippe Lefief)