Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the French Professional Football League (LFP) put an early end to the 2019-2020 sporting season. It chose to establish rankings and to maintain relegations (according to particular modalities) but gave up the organization of playoffs between the clubs having finished 3rd, 4th and 5th in Ligue 2, as well as the return playoff match between the winner of these playoffs and the 18th in Ligue 1. Inundated during the summer by several requests for summary proceedings and suspensions to execute these measures, the State Council (Conseil d’Etat) validated them one by one. Having been asked to rule on the merits, it renewed (not surprisingly) its approval of the decisions of the LFP.
Because of the health crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government measures taken to face it, the Board of Directors of the LFP decided, on 30 April 2020, to end the 2019-2020 season. It recorded the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championship rankings, taking into account the number of points obtained and the number of matches played by the teams and pronounced the accession to Ligue 1 of the clubs ranked first and second in Ligue 2 (FC Lorient and RC Lens), as well as the relegation to Ligue 2 of the clubs then ranked 19th and 20th in Ligue 1 (Amiens SC and Toulouse FC). In addition, contrary to the normally applicable rules, the LFP chose not to organize the playoffs between the clubs having finished 3rd, 4th and 5th in Ligue 2, as well as the return playoff between the winner of these...
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