Aulas wants Ligue 1 season to finish

Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas has said that the completion of the domestic club football has to be the priority.

The comment is coming on the heel of the dreaded coronavirus, which has affected the sporting calendar globally.

On the fallout from the coronavirus crisis, Aulas, who was speaking to RTL radio, said to save the Ligue 1 season means that it has to be concluded before June 30.

Speaking further, Lyon President said there is a need to make courageous choices and decisions by giving up on the continental competition like the UEFA Champions League, the finals of the domestic cup competitions and international matches. This, he said, will help clubs to focus only on the league.

Although his club is due to face the Ligue 1 runaway leaders, Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de la Ligue final and Lyon also has a goal advantage in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash against Juventus; Aulas added that the economy of the local club should supersede other competition.

Other club owners have been saying the same thing. For instance, if the English Premiership is not completed, the league body will have to refund 750m pounds to Skye Sport on commercial broadcast rights, which the clubs are not ready to allow to happen.

While stating that the next season may kick off late, but to Aula, the most important thing at the moment is the current season economically, which TV rights are on the front burner. He is, therefore, hoping that the league games can be completed, not minding the remaining games being played behind closed doors.

Lyon is currently seventh on the table. With this, they could miss out on playing in Europe next season with Rennes and Lille occupying the remaining Champions League spots.

As part of the support in fighting the pandemic, the Ligue 1 club has launched a call for donations.

In an announcement made via its Twitter handle, the seven-time French champions said it would be giving €100,000 to assist research into the virus being carried out in Lyon hospitals.

After setting up the solidarity fund, Lyon is now calling on all those wishing to donate to the fight against the coronavirus to do so in order for normalcy to return to the world.

Written by:  Oladipupo Mojeed