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."