La Liga president Javier Tebas hopes Spain’s top flight will restart on 12 June and says coronavirus tests will mean “practically zero” risk to players during games.

The league said on Sunday that five players had tested positive for the virus across Spain’s top two divisions. La Liga started testing players last week as it plans to resume training and play matches behind closed doors.

“I’d like it [the restart date] to be 12 June,” Tebas told Movistar.

“But we have to be careful. It will depend on many factors such as a potential rise in infections, factors which don’t depend on football but on Spanish society.  Read more... (323 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

La Liga president Javier Tebas responded with bemusement to news the French season will end with 10 rounds of matches still to be played.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe’s announcement that sport in the country will not be allowed to resume before summer effectively ends the season, but Tebas warned football could disappear if it failed to restart.

He said: ‘I do not understand why there would be more danger in playing football behind closed doors, with all precautionary measures, than working on an assembly line or being on a fishing boat on the high seas.  Read more... (278 words, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

Spain’s health minister has said that Spaniards should not expect to see professional football restart before the summer.

Spain has been without football since March 12, two days before the nation went into a strict lockdown under a state of emergency to battle its coronavirus outbreak that has claimed more than 22,000 lives.

‘It would be reckless for me to say now that professional football will be back before the summer,’ Salvador Illa said on Sunday.

‘We will continue to monitor the evolution (of the virus) and the guidelines we will present will indicate how different activities can return to a new normalcy.’  Read more... (301 words, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)