French Ligue 1 opener on hold after Covid cases reported at Marseille
Paris, Aug 18 (efe-epa).- The opening match of the French league’s 2020/21 season has been postponed after Olympique de Marseille, who were due to take on Saint Étienne on Friday, confirmed four Covid-19 cases at the club.
French league organizers (LFP) said that per the protocol set out by the “Covid committee”, the match that had been slated to be played on 21 August would be moved to either 16 or 17 September.
The announcement from the LFP comes two days after Marseille confirmed three cases at the club, bringing the total to four.
The club from the south of France first reported a coronavirus case on 13 August.
It was later revealed that the first case was related to player Jordan Amavi.
The club said Tuesday that a new round of testing had found no new cases at the club.
Fellow Ligue 1 team Nimes played a friendly against Marseille on 9 August and on Tuesday said it had two suspected Covid-19 cases at the club, adding that the affected individuals were in isolation.
The city of Marseille in southern France, like the capital Paris, is experiencing a rise in Covid-19 cases, especially among younger people.
France’s top-flight was the only one of Europe’s five major football leagues to call an early end to the season during the onset of the pandemic.
Paris Saint-Germain was crowned the winner.
