Marseille v Saint-Etienne Postponed Due to Coronavirus Cases
Marseille v Saint-Etienne has been moved to September after the club managed by Andre Villas-Boas confirmed multiple coronavirus cases.
Marseille were due to host Saint-Etienne on Friday in the opening game of the 2020-21 Ligue 1 campaign.
But the new French top-flight season will instead start with a match between Bordeaux and Nantes on Saturday.
Prior to the LFP announcement on Tuesday, Marseille said a trio of "suspected" coronavirus cases had been confirmed just three days before the start of the new season.
The Ligue 1 club previously revealed on Sunday that three individuals within their "professional workforce" had been detected as potentially having COVID-19.
Their communication at the time indicated the club was seeking confirmation regarding these cases and follow-up tests on Monday all came back positive.
Those results took the club's positive cases up to four in the space of four days.
A statement from Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) read: "In view of the medical results communicated by Marseille on Tuesday, the national COVID commission has indicated to the LFP's Competitions Commission that the virus is circulating within the Marseille club and proposed the postponement of the match.
"According to the protocol for the organisation of matches, the LFP's Competitions Commission has decided to postpone the match to Wednesday 16 or Thursday 17 September 2020, subject to the evolution of health conditions at Marseille.
"The final date will be determined in agreement with the match broadcaster."
