Paris, Apr 6 (IANS): French Ligue 1 club Reims were left with nothing but mourning as they came to know that long-serving doctor Bernard Gonzalez committed suicide after getting diagnosed with coronavirus.

Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot said the coronavirus pandemic has affected the club "in the heart" following the death of Gonzalez, who French newspaper Le Parisien reported committed suicide after contracting COVID-19, reports goal.com.

The Ligue 1 side confirmed the death of their doctor on Sunday and posted a poetic tribute to the 60-year-old on Sunday, describing him as "a man of science and literature, with inexhaustible curiosity".

Jean-Pierre Caillot, President of the club, said: "Words fail me, I am stunned, prostrate before this news."

"This pandemic affects the Stade de Reims in the heart, it is a personality of Reims and a great professional of the sport who left us. His mission to the club of more than 20 years has been carried out with the utmost professionalism, in a passionate and even selfless manner."

Bernard Caiazzo, president of the group which represents clubs in the French top flight, last month revealed that Ligue 1 would likely not resume until mid-June, but the competition needed to be completed.

France has been one of the hardest hit nations worldwide by COVID-19 with more than 8,000 deaths so far.