“The resumption of the main professional sports competitions and, in particular, La Liga will be allowed from the week of June 8,” said Sanchez in a televised speech to the nation.
La Liga was suspended on March 12 after Real Madrid was quarantined the same day following a positive coronavirus test from one of the sports club’s basketball players.
Messi’s Barcelona have a subtle two-point lead over rival Real with 11 rounds of games left and reacted to the news with a tweet from his talisman.
The lifting of restrictions was welcomed by league president Javier Tebas, who said he said a return to action on Friday June 12 would be the likely option for the teams.
“We are very happy with the decision, it is the result of the great work of clubs, players, technicians … CSD (National Sports Council) and agents involved,” he published on Twitter.
“But we can’t let our guard down, it’s important to follow health regulations and make sure the pandemic doesn’t come back.”
Go behind closed doors
With a limited time and with the teams in the lead also with commitments in the Champions League and Europa League, this means that the teams will play both midweek and weekends.
All games will be behind closed doors and players will also be tested for coronavirus the day before the games and will be subjected to temperatures before they can enter the stadiums.
Earlier this week, La Liga teams were able to expand into groups of up to 10 players in training sessions, having started working out individually on training fields since May 4th.
The German Bundesliga was the first of the major European leagues to start again last weekend, with the English Premier League and the Italian Serie A resuming on later dates.
Everyone is facing financial pressures to restart the competition, with Tebas stating that the cancellation of the Spanish season would have resulted in a loss of revenue for its clubs of around one billion dollars.
The second flight Spanish division Segunda also received the go-ahead to resume. Five unnamed players in the first two divisions showed positive for Covid-19 earlier this month although they were asymptomatic and in the final stage of the disease.
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