On Tuesday, French prime minister Edouard Philippe confirmed that the current Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 campaigns would be cancelled, while the new 2019-20 season will not start until September due to measures pertaining to sporting events to combat the coronavirus crisis.

And now the aim of French president, Emmanuel Macron, is to get the rest of Europe’s top five leagues to follow suit.

French sports minister in talks with other major leagues

According to a report by Le Parisien, France’s sports minister, Roxana Marancineanu, has been in permanent contact with representatives in England, Spain, Germany and Italy in a bid to convince them to follow the French example by cancelling their respective 2019-20 competitions.

Such a move, the French government argues, would ensure some level of parity with next season’s calendars.

Other leagues aim to complete 2019-20 season

However, Macron's proposal is likely to fall on deaf ears at this point. Germany has announced that the Bundesliga will resume on 9 May, while Serie A, LaLiga and the Premier League are all hoping to be in a position to recommence the 2019-20 season in the summer.

As it stands, all indications are that France will be the only one of the top-five leagues that will not finish out the current season. Though, another major league, Holland’s Eredivisie, has also announced the cancellation of the 2019/20 campaign.