Spain to return to football after Germany

What will the Liga "coronavirus formula" look like? Exclusive flights and hotels, separate buses, gloves and masks ... This is, in a few words, in what atmosphere the Spanish Championship will take place from Thursday June 11, and for the next five weeks, until the end scheduled for the season, July 19.

💪 #LaLigaSantander is back!

🗓 Thursday 11/06
⏰22h00 🇪🇸 # BackToWin pic.twitter.com/1ARHs9GZYZ

And as elsewhere, the success of this recovery will depend on the health protocol adopted: Spain is the third major European championship to return to the field, after Germany (May 16) and Portugal (June 4).

The world of football will therefore have its eyes riveted on the Andalusian derby between Seville FC and Betis Seville, which will kick off the long-awaited start of the recovery at 8 p.m. GMT on Thursday, after a lethargy of three months (since March 12 ) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A certainty, for the president of the League

"I always knew we were going to come back to play," said Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish Professional Football League (LaLiga), on Sunday during his Sunday appearance on the show 'El Partidazo de Movistar'.

"But I call on the players, their entourage, the clubs, to continue to maintain vigilance as we have done in recent weeks, in training and during matches," asked Tebas, aware of the risks and the precautions to be taken. .

Spanish football will resume on Wednesday with the 45 minutes remaining of the Spanish D2 game between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete, suspended on December 15 due to racist chants and insults against Ukrainian player Roman Zozulya .

Then, with the Seville derby on Thursday evening, Spain will discover a new form of playing football, between the silence of the camera and the faces hidden behind the masks.

"The matches, the trips ... We had to organize everything within LaLiga, because there were places where there were no hotels" available, Tebas said on Sunday. "There will be almost 250 matches, more than 200 charter flights, all of them are already organized ... Everything must be done to the millimeter," he said.

Since May 8, the date of resumption of training for professional clubs in Spain, caution is required. Teams resumed with individual sessions, then breakout sessions, before full sessions ten days ago.

"We can't fail"

According to the recovery protocol, made public by the Spanish media, a system of flights and hotels exclusively reserved for teams is planned.

Trips to the stadium will be made with two separate buses for members of the same team, or players will be asked to come in their individual vehicle. Players called in for matches will also be required to undergo coronavirus testing.

Footballers will enter the masked and gloved stadiums. Common areas, such as changing rooms, will be disinfected, and access will be limited to strictly necessary staff. "We cannot fail in terms of health security," warned Javier Tebas on Sunday.

Two atmospheres, in camera or full stadium

On the media side, La Liga coverage will also become more complicated. La Liga will only allow one employee per media to enter the stadium, within the following limits: 4 reporters from television channels without broadcasting rights, 8 photographic journalists, 5 radio journalists and 6 places for journalists of the written press. A protocol heavily criticized by journalists' associations in the country.

Viewers will have the opportunity to choose between a realistic broadcast, in the silence of the stadiums behind closed doors, or an enhanced broadcast with the noises of the stadiums and of the recorded audiences.

"What we will try to do is fill a void that cannot be filled, that of the presence of people in the stadiums," said Jaume Roures, boss of Mediapro, the broadcaster of La Liga in Spain.

With AFP

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