Lisbon (AFP)
The Portuguese Football League has completed the calendar for nine of the last ten days of the first division championship, which will resume behind closed doors on June 3 with two matches, including a Famalicao-Porto, it announced Friday evening.
The League has communicated the dates and times of the matches from the 25th to the 33rd day, which will end on July 21, but not that of the last day because the teams engaging in distance duels will have to play at the same time.
At the end of April, the Portuguese government had decided that the competition, interrupted on March 12, could resume from the last weekend in May subject to the adoption of a health protocol.
The League had then announced that it was targeting a recovery on June 4 to give itself time to check with the health authorities which stadiums could host the matches.
The schedule released on Friday does not specify the venue for the various matches, but according to local media reports, most of the teams will play at their own stadium. The health authorities had said they wanted the competition to resume "in as few stadiums as possible".
The matches will continue to be broadcast on pay channels which hold the broadcasting rights for the competition, while the President of the League, former international referee Pedro Proença, is highly contested for having suggested that certain matches be broadcast in the clear without having consulted the clubs beforehand.
With 10 days to go, FC Porto leads the standings with a point ahead of reigning champion Benfica Lisbon. The two big rivals will also face off in the final of the Portuguese Cup, the date of which has not been announced.
© 2020 AFP