Paris Saint-Germain moved within a fingertip of being crowned Ligue 1 champion when the French league recommended to freeze the 2019-20 standings amid the COVID-19 crisis on Thursday, French sports daily L'Equipe reported. 

According to the newspaper, the LFP's board will ratify the recommendation on Thursday afternoon and effectively hand PSG its seventh title in the last eight years. The decision would mean that second-place Marseille and third-place Rennes would be in next season's Champions League with PSG. 

On Tuesday, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed that France’s top two tiers of football would not be able to resume the 2019-20 season. Philippe announced all major sporting events in the country will be put on hold until September.

OFFICIAL: "Big sporting events will not be able to take place before September," said French PM Edouard Philippe. "The 2019-20 season, notably for football, will not be able to resume." Ligue 1 & Ligue 2 are done.

MANCHESTER, England — European football leagues have been given a May 25 deadline to inform governing body UEFA of their plans to restart their domestic competitions.

Soccer has ground to a halt in all major leagues in Europe and none have yet to resume. But UEFA is keen to start planning for next season's European club tournaments.

FIFA has proposed that teams should be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match, instead of the usual three, as a temporary measure to help cope with potential fixture congestion in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

Football has been at a standstill since mid-March but many leagues and federations are still hoping to complete the season but to do so they would have to cram fixtures into a shorter period than usual once play re-starts.

When soccer fans think about the best youth academies in the world, some of the clubs that probably come to mind are Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and perhaps Dinamo Zagreb. 

While the academy of Stade Rennais may not often come up in that discussion, it has produced some extraordinary talents and often does not get the credit it is due. Rennes has produced World Cup winners and champions of leagues across the continent. Here are some of the best talents who started their careers in the capital of the famous region of Brittany.

Current contracts for players and coaches should be extended until the end of the delayed domestic soccer seasons, according to an internal FIFA document presented to its Coronavirus Working Group. The confidential document, seen by Reuters, also recommends allowing transfer windows to be changed in accordance with new season dates and urges clubs and players to work together to find solutions to salary payments during stoppages. 

French federation president Noel Le Graet urged the presidents of Lyon and Marseille to stop bickering about whether the Ligue 1 season should be declared null and void amid the coronavirus outbreak. The season has been postponed indefinitely as French authorities try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which on Saturday had infected 4,499 and killed 91 people in the country. 

"I ask them to regain their composure... and to show dignity," Le Graet told French TV channel TF1 on Sunday.