Spanish premier reveals when LaLiga can resume
Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the country’s top-flight LaLiga can resume as early as June 8.
The announced date is four days earlier than when the division had hoped to hold the restart of the suspended 2019-20 season.
Although no official date of when the action will return has been confirmed.
And Sanchez said Spain has done what it needed to do and now new horizons can open for everyone.
“The time has come to recover many of our daily activities. From June 8 La Liga will be able to return,’ Sanchez said on Saturday.
“Spanish football has a huge following but it will not be the only recreation activity that will return.”
Spanish clubs were given the go ahead to restart training this week, two months after the coronavirus brought the game to a halt across Europe.
Spanish football was suspended on March 12 amid the Covid-19 pandemic but LaLiga side stepped up their training sessions on Monday morning.
Players are no longer training on their own. They can train in groups of 10, and they can now pass the ball between themselves but there can be no five-a-sides, no free-kick routine practices and no pressing drills.
LaLiga have been keen not to be seen to jump ahead of official advice and president Javier Tebas said on Friday: “Clubs, directors, players and referees are all keen to start the season again but the competition will only start when the health authorities consider it to be possible. Coordination with CSD (Spanish Sports Council) and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will be key.”
Barcelona are top of LaLiga table, two points ahead of rivals Real Madrid with 11 games remaining.
Spain is one of the countries worst-affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with more than 28,000 deaths and more than 234,000 cases of infection diagnosed.
But the daily death toll has been steadily declining, with only 56 deaths registered on Friday.