May 19 – Spain’s La Liga has drawn up a detailed plan for the clubs to implement when match days return with the league hoping for a June 12 start behind closed doors.
That protocol includes players and officials being submitted to Covid-19 tests 24 hours before games and having their temperatures taken on the way into stadiums.
Venues, like in Germany, will have three zones and 197 people would be required to stage a match. Teams will need two travel with two busses if the party exceeds 25 players, a measure that also applied in the Bundesliga. La Liga won’t allow pre-match handshakes, but spitting or goal celebrations would not be outlawed.
Press won’t be welcome. Club media and journalists from TV rights holders will, however, be allowed.
Yesterday Spanish top flight clubs restarted training in groups as the peak of the coronavirus pandemic has passed in Spain and football, like the rest of society, seeks a return to normality, and the economic storm cloud of La Liga standing to lose up to €1 billion if the season is not completed.
The league will have been boosted by the Bundesliga’s return to action last weekend and hopes similarly that its restart is not derailed by a new spike in the numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases.
Barcelona currently top the La Liga table with 58 points with eternal rivals Real Madrid in second with 56 points.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1734949368labto1734949368ofdlr1734949368owedi1734949368sni@o1734949368fni1734949368