PSG crowned Ligue 1 champions and Lyon miss out on Champions League after coronavirus cancellation

Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned Ligue 1 champions following the cancellation of the 2019-20 season, Goal can confirm, with Lyon missing out on European football for the first time since 1997.

Earlier this month, the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionnel) outlined plans to restart the campaign in June with lockdown measures in France set to be lifted on May 11.

However, French prime minister Edouard Philippe insisted that such a scenario was impossible during a national assembly on Tuesday, while revealing that no sporting events will be allowed to take place until September at the earliest.

The announcement left several teams in Ligue 1 awaiting their fates regarding final positions, with PSG sitting 12 points clear at the top of the table having played a game less than second-placed Marseille.

Following a vote over how the league standings should be decided, the LFP confirmed on Thursday that Thomas Tuchel's men are champions of France for a third successive year, while seventh-placed Lyon have failed to qualify for Europe's premier club competition.

The classification has been established based on the average number of points each team has gained thus far in relation to matches played, meaning Marseille and Rennes have earned a place in the Champions League.

Elsewhere, Amiens and Toulouse are relegated to Ligue 2 after being cut adrift at the bottom of the standings. Lorient and Lens will be promoted from the second tier.

Nimes, who were 18th in Ligue 1 and set for the relegation play-offs with three teams from Ligue 2, have been given a repreive after it was confirmed the extra matches will not be played.

Didier Quillot, general director of the LFP, said that as far as they are concerned the 2019-20 French football season is now over, and their goal is to start the 2020-21 season no later than August 22.

He said: "There may be appeals, but our decisions are solid.

"We are not restarting the next championship after August, except in the event of force majeure and a new outbreak of the epidemic."

However Quillot did say they would play the finals of the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue in early August, if given permission by UEFA, which would impact qualification for the Europa League.

He said: "If the finals of the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France take place, the places in the Europa League will be allocated to their winner, if the winner is not PSG. The rule does not change."

Lille, Reims and Nice looked to have booked spots in the Europa League through their league standings, however that is now subject to change.

Nathalie Boy De La Tour, President of the LFP, said they had exhausted every possible option on resuming the league, and that this solution was the fairest in their opinion.

She said: "We had worked on recovery scenarios for mid-June. We worked on the economy and treasury for the clubs, sponsorship and ticketing. We worked behind the scenes. I don’t like to talk to say the least. I'm coming to you with concrete things. "

France have followed the example of Belgium's Jupiler Pro League and the Netherlands' Eredivisie by calling off the season, and it has been suggested that the rest of Europe's major leagues will take the same drastic steps in the coming weeks.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and general secretary Theodore Theodoridis have set a deadline for the leagues in question to submit their plans for restarting the season, having previously made it clear that their main goal is to see all schedules completed by August.

A statement from European football's governing body said: "National Associations and/or Leagues should be in a position to communicate to UEFA by May 25, 2020, the planned restart of their domestic competitions - including the date of restart and the competition format."

Bundesliga officials are working towards a May 9 restart, with matches set to be played behind closed doors in Germany, while La Liga clubs have been cleared to return to training on May 4 - a similar approach followed by Serie A.

Meanwhile, Premier League club executives are due to meet on Friday to discuss how best to move forward in England, as the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths continues to rise across Europe.