Coronavirus: Ex-Toulouse boss Kombouare wants strike over Ligue 1 relegation

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Paris, May 10: Former Paris Saint-Germain and Toulouse coach Antoine Kombouare has called on players to go on strike next season if the French Professional Football League (LFP) does not agree to a 22-team Ligue 1.

France's top-flight season was cancelled at the end of last month due to the coronavirus pandemic, with PSG awarded their seventh title in eight years on a point-by-game basis and Toulouse and Amiens relegated.

Kombouare served as Toulouse coach between October and January this term but was sacked after a run of 10 consecutive defeats in all competitions that culminated in a Coupe de France loss against fourth-tier outfit Saint-Pryve Saint-Hilaire.

The 56-year-old's son Yann is an administrative director at Amiens, who this weekend formally launched legal action to contest their relegation.

"The players and the coaches must agree to strike at the start of next season if [the situation] does not evolve", Kombouare Sr told L'Equipe.

"There will be layoffs. Even at the amateur level, it will hurt. Having players end their careers in this way is terribly unfair. And I have always hated injustice.

"In front of this suffering and concern born of this crisis, we must unite. We are not united enough. It makes me angry.

Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas – who has also lodged two legal actions against the LFP decision - and former France captain Laurent Blanc are among those to have voiced opposition to curtailing the season with 10 matches remaining.

Meanwhile, Monaco midfielder Cesc Fabregas told beIN SPORTS the call might have been "taken a little too soon".