CELTIC have been alert to the news Paris Saint-Germain are poised to be awarded the Ligue 1.
The French top flight, along with the Premiership and leagues worldwide, has been in lockdown since the coronavirus pandemic struck.
PSG were holding a 12-point lead before the game went into cold storage in the middle of last month while the Hoops, of course, were THIRTEEN points clear with eight matches to play before the emergency halt.
Earlier this week, the French government banned all football until September and their Football Association are ready to name their teams for European competition with PSG about to be handed the crown, according to respected sports journal, L’Equipe.
They will receive the flag on a points-per-game basis which would keep the Ligue 1 table as it was when play was stopped.
UEFA requested any leagues finishing early to decide qualification spots on “sporting merit”, leaning heavily towards a points-per-game calculation with an alternative play-off route considered non-feasible for many. Moussa Dembele’s Lyon will join the capital side in the elite competition.
France’s promotion and relegation places have yet to be confirmed.
WAVING HELLO…Neil Lennon is prepared to welcome nine in a row.
Clubs from La Ligue, the Premier League in England, La Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy were previously plotting a return to training next month before resuming matches behind closed doors from the middle of June.
In Germany, Bundesliga sides are already back at work and await government approval on a restart on May 9, with an update expected from Angela Merkel later today.
There are calls from across Europe to cancel football in the wake of the killer virus with players and medical staff also reportedly hesitant to return to action.
And some feel the precedent set by France could be followed elsewhere.
The Hoops are on the brink of their ninth successive title after leading the league from day one when they kicked off with a 7-0 rout of St Johnstone at Parkhead on August 3.
They required a maximum five wins from their remaining eight league outings to make certain of the 51st flag in the club’s history.
That also put the onus on their nearest challengers to win their matches which seemed unlikely considering Steven Gerrard’s strugglers had dropped 13 points since returning from the mid-winter with losses to Hearts, Kilmarnock and Hamilton Accies and draws with Aberdeen and St Johnstone.
It has been inevitable the championship was heading back to the east end of Glasgow, despite the obstacles placed in the way of its obvious destination.
