The Nigerian quartet of Victor Osimhen (Lille Metropole), Moses Simon (FC Nantes) as well as Samuel Kalu and Josh Maja (Girondins-Bordeaux) have joined the growing legion of players who will not see action this weekend, on account of fears rising over coronavirus, megasportsarena.com reports.
So soon after William Troost-Ekong (Udinese), OPla Aina (AS Torino) and Victor Moses (Inter Milan) became the first set of players to see their leagues put on hold in Italy, with the Span-based lot of Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem (UD Leganes) and Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal) following suit soon after earlier this week, the French Ligue 1 four are now next hit.
Osimhen, Kalu, Maja and Simon saw their season put on halt on Friday, at the same time the same news hit the England-based troika of Alex Iwobi (Everton), Odion Jude Ighalo (Manchester United) as well as Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi (Leicester City).
Joining the array now in France are Osimhen, Kalu, Maja and Simon, after Professional Football League (LFP) stated that all games in the two top tiers will be postponed until further notice, as they follow the lead of other European countries by announcing that all games in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 have been suspended indefinitely amid the ongoing concerns over coronavirus.
French Football Federation (FFF) president, Noel Le Graet earlier announced on Thursday that all activities connected to his association would be put on hold, based on recommendations by the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, who said all educational facilities will be closing doors.
LFP have now announced a complete shutdown in operations across its top two tiers of football in France, as the outbreak of Covid-19 has forced schedules around the world to be assessed, with many countries taking the decision to postpone sporting events until further notice.
The LFP statement read: “Following the announcements of the President of the Republic in order to respond to the health crisis linked to Covid-19, the LFP Board of Directors unanimously decided to immediately suspend the Ligue 1 Conforama championships and Domino’s Ligue 2 until further notice.
“As the President of the Republic pointed out, collective interest must be placed above everything. The urgency is to curb the epidemic, protect the most vulnerable, and avoid displacement. At the end of the meeting scheduled by UEFA on March 17, the LFP Board of Directors will meet.”
