French club Amiens are considering legal action after they were relegated from Ligue 1 after the current season was ended due to the Covid-19 crisis on Thursday.
The 2019-20 season was suspended with 10 matches remaining as part of the French government's steps to contain the spread of the coronavirus last month.
With some teams having played 27 matches and others 28, the French League (LFP) drew up the final standings according to a performance index – number of points per game weighed by head-to-head record, resulting in Amiens and Toulouse going down.
"It is an injustice because Amiens could not defend until the end on the pitch to remain in Ligue 1," Amiens president Bernard Joannin said in a Facebook live broadcast.
"I'll fight with all the teams to assert our right, because I think this decision isn't right. We will wait for the minutes of the LFP board of directors.
"There will be the passage to the general assembly, and we reserve the right to go further so that justice passes."
Paris Saint-Germain were awarded a seventh league title in eight years while seventh-placed Lyon, who missed out on European qualification, said they would possibly appeal against the LFP's decision.
French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said the aggrieved clubs were welcome to explore legal options but also called for restraint.
"If they want to go to court, let them go," Maracineanu told RMC Sport. "The sports movement is autonomous ... This is valid for professional sport and amateur sport alike. In this situation, there are some who are content and some who are dissatisfied.
"I appeal to everyone's solidarity and responsibility. I appeal to the wealthy and better off that they don't split hairs ... We must also think of others and society. The world must know how to take its losses."
The new season will start on August 22-23 at the latest and likely to be held without fans as popular events are banned until September in France.
Result
UAE (S. Tagliabue 90 1') 1-2 Uzbekistan (Shokhruz Norkhonov 48', 86')
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: N2 Technology
Founded: 2018
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Startups
Size: 14
Funding: $1.7m from HNIs
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.