7 May 2020 – Football is suspended across most of Europe because of the continued spread of coronavirus.
The game in England is suspended indefinitely and, while Premier League clubs are committed to finishing the campaign, there is no concrete sign of a resumption.
Germany’s Bundesliga will resume this month, with all matches played behind closed doors.
But the French Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 seasons will not resume, with Paris St-Germain being awarded the top-flight title.
That announcement followed the Netherlands abandoning the Eredivisie season a week earlier. Belgium’s Pro-League has cancelled its season, although the decision to ratify this is still pending.
What is the situation in Europe’s major leagues?
Bundesliga – will resume this month
The German Bundesliga season can resume this month, becoming the first major league in Europe to return to competition.
A date for resumption will be confirmed by the German Football League (DFL) on Thursday.
All matches will be played behind closed doors.
With nine games remaining, Bayern Munich are top of the table, four points above Borussia Dortmund.
The DFL had warned that many top-division teams would be in an “existence-threatening” financial position if play did not resume by June.
Players returned to training last month, with the DFL initially saying the league would be ready to return on 9 May.
Germany’s top flight was suspended on 13 March.
La Liga – league aims for June restart
Clubs in Spain’s top two divisions will return to individual training this week as organisers aim to re-start the league campaign in June.
A statement from the organising body said clubs would follow the league’s protocol for returning to training, which had been agreed with Spain’s sports and health authorities and guaranteed the safety of players and staff.
Spain has announced a four-phase plan to lift the country’s stringent lockdown and, during ‘phase zero’ from 4-11 May, professional sports leagues can go back to training.
Barcelona lead Real Madrid by two points at the top of La Liga, with 11 rounds of matches to play.
Serie A – league could restart in late May or early June
Serie A players have been allowed back to individual training this week with team training possible on 18 May after the Italian prime minister announced the first steps in lifting the country’s coronavirus lockdown.
There are hopes Serie A fixtures could resume between 27 May and 2 June – with an end date for the season of early August.
However, there has not yet been a formal announcement on the possibility of when Serie A might resume, even behind closed doors.
Last week, Italy’s sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora warned: “I see an increasingly narrow path for the resumption of the Serie A.”
He added: “These decisions (in France and in the Netherlands) could push Italy to follow this line, which would become a European line,”
The FIGC hopes to begin testing players for the virus at the start of May, in preparation for the season to resume and the country’s top flight, Serie A, has insisted it was committed to finishing the season.
Serie A was suspended on 9 March, with 12 full rounds and four outstanding fixtures still to play. Juventus are top, a point ahead of Lazio.
Italy has been one of the countries worst affected by coronavirus, with a number of players having become infected.
There remain voices against a resumption, including Brescia president Massimo Cellino, whose side are bottom of the table. He says he is ready to forfeit the club’s remaining games if the season resumes.
(source: BBC.com)