April 28 (UPI) -- French soccer league Ligue 1 on Tuesday became one of the first major sports leagues in the world to cancel the remainder of its season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that no sports events, even those behind closed doors, will take place before September.
"The 2019-2020 season, notably for football [soccer] will not be able to resume," Philippe said.
Ligue 1 announced an indefinite suspension March 13. The 2020-2021 Ligue 1 season had been scheduled to begin in August.
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Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain is 12 points ahead of Marseille in the 2019-2020 Ligue 1 standings. Paris Saint-Germain employs some of best soccer players in the world, including Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappe.
The season cancellation also means Ligue 1 will have to decide what to do about relegation, or demotion, of the worst team in the standings to a lower-tier league. Toulouse was in last place when play was suspended.
Each team had fewer than 10 games left to play this season at the time of the suspension.
All of Europe's other major soccer leagues also are suspended, including the Premier League and La Liga. The Eredivisie -- the top soccer league in the Netherlands -- canceled the remainder of its season Friday.
The European Football Association -- the administrative body of soccer leagues in Europe -- has given leagues a May 25 deadline to tell them their plans to restart or cancel their seasons.
France's Professional Football League had planned to continue the Ligue 1 season in mid-June before to Philippe's announcement.
