French federation boss wants Ligue 1 to end mid-July

PARIS (Reuters) - French federation president Noel Le Graet said on Thursday the Ligue 1 season, which has been suspended amid the coronavirus outbreak, should not end before July 15th so that all competitions in Europe can be completed.

"Frankly, I can't see how we could end it at the end of June, with the France games and the Champions League," Le Graet told French sports daily L'Equipe.

"The proposal that the French federation wants to make to everyone and to UEFA is that we must absolutely play at least until July 15.

"There is no other solution. Take countries like Italy, Spain and France... you can see that they will not resume training at the beginning of April."

Major European leagues have been suspended, as well as the Champions League and the Europa League while the European Championship has been postponed until 2021 to allow club competitions to be completed.

Le Graet believes the players will be on board.

"I think that the players are wise enough to play an extra couple of weeks. And those who will not want to play will not play," he said.

Earlier this week, the league (LFP) said it wanted to end the season by June 30.

The coronavirus has killed more than 9,000 people and infected more than 220,000 worldwide with its epicentre having switched from China to Europe.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)