In news that is almost certain to send shockwaves through European football, French football authorities have taken the decision to suspend the French Cup until December 1 at the earliest.
With president Macron announcing a second national lockdown to run until the end of November, and coronavirus cases rising at an unprecedented rate, the only sensible course of action seems to be to stop certain sporting events in the meantime.
According to BBC Sport, alongside the cup suspension, all amateur football in the country will also be halted, whilst the top three tiers of men’s football – Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and the National – and the women’s top flight can continue as normal, as can international football matches.
The rate of daily deaths in France are now at the highest level since April, and on Wednesday, there were 36,437 new cases and 244 deaths confirmed.
It’s meant that, from Friday, people in France will only be allowed to leave home for essential work or medical reasons.
We can only hope that the situation reverses rather than all sport having to be curtailed in due course.