The coronavirus-enforced postponement of the Ligue 1 season opener on Friday was necessary not only for the health of the players but also club doctors, the French football federation's medical chief said on Thursday.

After four players at Marseille tested positive for COVID-19, the league was left with no option other than to rescheduled their opening game of the 2020/21 campaign against Saint-Etienne.

"It was decided that from four isolated players this required caution as it means that the virus is circulating in the club," Emmanuel Orhant, also a member of the league's COVID-19 committee, told AFP.

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