Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, this afternoon confirmed that the Spanish top-flight season could resume as early as next month.
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Coronavirus wreaking havoc
The outbreak of COVID-19 (more commonly referred to as the coronavirus) has of course been headline news across the globe for over a month now.
As of this evening, almost 1.4 million positive cases have been confirmed worldwide.
Of these individuals, over 80,000 have sadly passed away.
The scale of the pandemic, meanwhile, has inevitably also had a major effect on the sporting world.
In a bid to prevent further spread of the virus amongst fans and players alike, the majority of high-profile sporting competitions around the globe have been brought to a halt.
La Liga postponed
One of the first tournaments to have been forced into a shut down in Europe was La Liga.
On the back of a spike in cases throughout Spain, the RFEF came to the decision to call off Matchdays 28 and 29 of the season on the 12th of March.
This was soon followed by a further announcement, in which the Spanish football authorities confirmed that the 2019/20 La Liga campaign had been postponed indefinitely.
May return?
As is the case throughout Europe, it had since remained altogether unclear when football may get back underway in Spain.
The country is currently the 2nd-hardest hit on the planet in terms of confirmed COVID-19 cases, at over 140,000.
If the latest comments on the part of Javier Tebas are anything to go by, though, then Spanish top-flight football could nevertheless be back underway as early as next month.
Speaking earlier today, La Liga president Tebas was drawn on plans for a return to action, with the Spaniard having gone on to reveal a trio of dates currently under discussion:
‘A protocol is being drafted by three medical teams over the last two weeks for a return to training which involves the possibility of doing coronavirus tests and isolation in dressing rooms.’
‘When? We can’t say at the moment. The Spanish medical authorities will tell us.’
‘There is a state of alarm until 26 April and we will not start training until that point at the very earliest. The most probable options at the moment for matches returning are 28-29 May, 6-7 June and 28-29 June.’
