Former Liverpool and Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier is upset seeing Ligue 1 abandoned.

Last month Ligue 1 became the most high-profile of the European football leagues to decide to curtail their campaign early in the face of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Houllier - who managed Lyon between 2005 and 2007 prior to a spell at Aston Vila, and now works as an advisor to Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas - thinks the decision was reached because Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille, in second, worked together to influence the authorities.

"There is an axis between OM and PSG and it hit hard," Houllier told OLTV.

“There was an alliance made with arrangements between friends and I think above all it was a plot, a plan to eliminate Lyon.

“It will be covered up because I think the French state is involved. I followed all the press conferences by [President] Emmanuel Macron and [Prime Minister] Edouard Philippe, and they never talked about sport.

“And just by chance, at the end, it's said that Ligue 1 will not be able to resume. It was the first time they talked about sports. I found it a bit weird."

Houllier added that the season should have been voided completely if it couldn't be finished.

“I found this very unfair," he said.

“A championship does not stop on the third, 19th or 28th day. We go to the end, otherwise we consider it to be null and void."