23 May 2020

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announces La Liga safe to resume from June 8

La Liga football is free to resume matches from June 8, the country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced.

Spain will be the second of Europe’s top five leagues to see the return of top flight football after the Bundesliga came back last weekend.

It comes after a significant reduction in the number of new cases and deaths per day, with the country recording its smallest rise in fatalities on Friday since mid-March.

La Liga President Javier Tebas has been vocal in his desire to resume the domestic campaign and had been touting a date of June 12 for games to restart.

But Sanchez has now given the go ahead for football to get back underway from the week beginning Monday, June 8.

No top flight matches have been played in Spain since Real Sociedad beat Eibar on March 10.

Barcelona currently sit top of the table, two points clear of title rivals Real Madrid with 11 games remaining.

It has been reported this week that the first game back could be the Seville derby between Sevilla and Real Betis.

Speaking to Football Espana, Sevilla sporting director Monchi said: "There is no better way for LaLiga to return than this derby.

"It will be one more incentive, as we are all looking forward to football returning and that first match will be magnificent."

The news of La Liga’s return also bodes well for the Premier League and Serie A, who are yet to announce their official restart dates.

Meanwhile in France, the Ligue 1 season was finished prematurely last month after the national government decided that all sporting events would be banned until September.

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