Spanish football to resume on 11 June

Spain's La Liga will resume play with a local derby between Sevilla FC and Real Betis on June 11, the Spanish government's top sports council agreed with the football association and the league on Friday. Photo: Atletico de Madrid via AP

Spain's La Liga will resume play with a local derby between Sevilla FC and Real Betis on June 11, the Spanish government's top sports council agreed with the football association and the league on Friday. Photo: Atletico de Madrid via AP

Published May 30, 2020

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BARCELONA - Spain's La Liga will resume play with a local derby

between Sevilla FC and Real Betis on June 11, the Spanish

government's top sports council agreed with the football association

and the league on Friday.

This confirmed earlier remarks by La Liga President Javier Tebas.

The Spanish government has allowed football to restart from June 8.

There are still 11 game days remaining in the championship, which has

been interrupted since March 10.

They are to be completed in seven weeks by July 26, if possible,

though a concrete schedule still has to be worked out.

The new 2020/21 season in the Primera Division will start on

September 12, Tebas confirmed this in an interview with the Spanish

sports newspaper Marca.

Speaking on a Marca forum on Friday, Tebas said he was thankful

Spanish football did not follow France in cancelling its season.

Tebas said: "Look at the French League, they made a very hasty

decision. For us something like that would have been a catastrophe."

"We have to continue on the path of work that we have started and

that has placed us a little behind the Bundesliga and close to the

Premier League."

In France last month the government outlawed professional sport until

August 31 which forced Ligue 1 and other divisions to abandon their

seasons. The German Bundesliga restarted on May 16 and England's

Premier League wants to resume play June 17.

The regions of Barcelona and Madrid are currently in phase one of

Spain's lockdown de-escalation and they need government approval to

move to phase two which will allow live competitive professional

sport to resume.

"We will begin [the remainder of this season], God willing, on June

11," Tebas said.

"Let's hope that Madrid and Barcelona go to phase two which allow

things to progress, he added. "There are more than 130 La Liga people

working so that everything can be done, in a new way: travel,

organization, everything."

"We are ready and the important thing will be the day we finish the

competition. The next one will start on September 12."

dpa

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