French league postpones five more games following protests

PARIS (Reuters) - Five top-flight French soccer matches have been postponed this weekend due to security concerns following anti-government protests, depleting the league program for the second week in a row, Ligue 1 said on Thursday. Paris St Germain’s match at Dijon on Saturday is among those postponed, along with Amiens’ match against Angers and Nantes’ game against Montpellier. On Sunday, games between Olympique de Marseille and Girondins de Bordeaux and Guingamp against Stade Rennais have also been postponed. “In the wake of continued security concerns, the Ligue 1 Conforama Week 18 matches that were set to be played in Dijon, Nantes, Amiens, Guingamp and Marseille this weekend have been postponed, while the matches in Nice and Caen have been moved,” Ligue 1 said in a statement. The Caen v Toulouse clash will now take place on Tuesday, Dec. 18 while the Nice v St Etienne game has been rescheduled for Sunday, Dec. 16 in a bid to avoid a fixture backload. The French league takes a winter break between Dec. 22 and Jan. 12. Six of last weekend’s 10 fixtures were called off ahead of a weekend of protests across the country against rising living costs and liberal economic reforms.