French Court Upholds Decision to End Ligue 1 Season but Suspends Relegation


The court's decision is a boon for Amiens and Toulouse, who were thought to be demoted.

PARIS (AP) — France’s highest administrative court on Tuesday upheld the decision to cancel the rest of the soccer season amid the coronavirus pandemic and suspended the relegations of Amiens and Toulouse to the second division.

The Conseil d’Etat issued its ruling after Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas and the two demoted clubs took the case to court last month in a bid to force the league to play the remaining 10 matches of the aborted season.

The league was canceled with Paris Saint-Germain declared champion, while Lyon finished outside the European places in seventh.

The Conseil d’Etat ruled that there was “no serious doubt as to the legality of the decision” to end the season prematurely. However, it suspended the relegation of Amiens and Toulouse, ordering the French league to rethink the format of the 2020-21 season.