Possible July return for La Liga?

Madrid: The Spanish Football League La Liga could return to action in July according to one of the major rights holders of the competition.

The Chief Executive of the company Mediapro, Jaume Roures, commented on Spanish radio station Cadena Cope that the league, which was suspended on March 11 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, will try and complete the 2019-20 season.

"I hope football returns in July, and I say July because, among other things, everyone's health must be guaranteed," said Roures, who also confirmed that the competition would be played in empty stadiums to prevent the spread of the virus.

"It will return without an audience," he explained.

Roures also explained that when restrictions are lifted in Spain, it would be impossible to start playing football immediately as the players will have lost match fitness after over a month confined to their homes.

"They'd have to do a pre-season. After so long at home, they can't go out and play as if nothing happened," he said.

However, Roures explained that unless the season was able to restart before the end of June, it would probably be scrapped and added that if "a player tests positive for coronavirus, we will have to say goodbye to the season."

There are still 11 rounds of games to be played in the Spanish Primera Liga, where FC Barcelona currently hold a two-point lead over Real Madrid.

The football players' union, the AFP, has yet to make clear whether they would be willing to play every two or three days in order to finish the season, while the Spanish summer will make playing games in places such as Seville, Valencia or Madrid difficult because of temperatures of over 30 or 35 degrees centigrade.