France will introduce a play-off to decide the final promotion and relegation place between the top two divisions from next season, the French Football League (LFP) said on Thursday.

The top two finishers in the second division -- Ligue 2 -- and the bottom two Ligue 1 sides will swap places as is the current case.

But the third-place finisher in Ligue 2 will no longer earn automatic promotion, playing off instead against the third-bottom finisher of Ligue 1 in a two-legged tie.

"We have voted for the two plus one system," said LFP director general Didier Quillot.

This system was previously used in France until 1993 when a straight three up-three down format was adopted.