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TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020
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Pique
‘pessimistic’
over Davis
Cup finals
Page 30
MADRID (AFP) - The president of Spain’s
La Liga last Sunday said he hopes the
tournament can resume on June 12 but
that their hands are tied by government
health policy.
Javier Tebas was speaking just
hours after „ive players from Spain’s
top two leagues had tested positive
for coronavirus.
He then con„irmed that three non-
playing staff had also tested positive.
“I would like it (the season resuming)
to be June 12, but it will depend on the
numbers,” Tebas told Movistar.
“In the end it will be up to the health
authorities. They explain what can be
done. We do not rush, we are not the ones
who decide the phases.”
Despite Sunday’s announcement
of more positive tests, Tebas insisted
Spain was on the right track for a speedy
resumption of the sport.
“It is less than we expected. We
expected 25 or 30, according to the
numbers seen in the Bundesliga and the
potency of the virus in Spain.
“Out of 2,500 individuals only eight
positives. And the players already are in
the „inal phase of the disease and this
week they will be tested again.”
Tebasaddedthatwhenthecompetition
restarts, players will be tested 24 hours
beforehand.
“In the match environment, infection
is practically impossible because we
have carried out a study that we will
present that shows the smallest risk
is in matches if everyone respects the
medical protocol.
“If things are done as they should be,
there shouldn’t be any infections. If „ive
infected appear in one club, it would
suggest some negligence.”
Players in Spain’s top-„light and
Segunda division were allowed to carry
out individual work at training grounds
last week.
The move was the beginning of a
staggered training programme with the
aim to restart competitive games in the
middle of June.
La Liga chief
wants restart by
June 12 despite
eight new
positive tests PARIS (AFP) - As European leagues prepare to
return from the enforced coronavirus break,
screening tests are revealing cases in various
championships, although, as yet, not calling
into question plans to resume playing.
Germany still plans to be the „irst of the
„ive “big” leagues ahead of Spain, England
and Italy - France has declared its season
over - to kick off on May 16, behind closed
doors, despite the sobering events at
Dynamo Dresden.
The second-tier club were ordered to self-
isolate for 14 days last Saturday after testing
uncovered two fresh coronavirus cases.
“It’s not a reason to call the entire season
into question,” league CEO Christian Seifert
told German broadcaster ZDF.
“It was always clear to me that this could
happen. We’re at the very beginning of
the restart.”
Seifert warned, however, that further
coronavirus cases could jeopardise plans to
end the season by June 30.
“It can reach a scale where it’s not feasible
anymore,” he said. “It would depend on how
much time there is left to „inish the season.”
Matches will be played behind closed
doors and with a maximum number of 300
people, including both teams, allowed at
each game.
In the run-up to the restart, all teams
must go into a one-week quarantine training
camp. The German league said last Thursday
that 1,724 tests at the 36 clubs in the top two
divisions conducted in two rounds yielded 10
positives in the „irst batch and two more in
the second.
Those include two players and a „it-
ness coach at Cologne and a player and a
physiotherapist at Borussia Moenchengla-
dbach, but only the individuals concerned
were placed in quarantine and the teams
continued training.
In the English Premier League, which
hopes to resume from June to August, a third
Brighton player tested positive on Saturday
and was placed in isolation, the club’s chief
executive Paul Barber told Sky Sports.
The player was not named. One Brighton
player tested positive in March and another in
April and have recovered, the club said
“It is a concern,” Barber said.
“Despite all of the measures that we’ve
been taking over the past few weeks,
where the players haven’t been involved
in any signi„icant training at all, we’ve still
suffered another player testing positive for
the virus.”
Elsewhere, players at Chelsea and
Norwich as well as Arsenal manager Mikel
Arteta tested positive while players at
Leicester, Everton and Bournemouth all self-
isolated after showing symptoms but clubs
did not con„irm if they tested positive.
Representatives of the Premier League
and clubs met yesterday to discuss the „inal
details of the “Project Restart”, including
the organisation of matches behind closed
doors, on neutral ground and the extension
of player contracts.
In Italy’s Serie A, which resumed individual
training this week, four Sampdoria players,
including one who had previously recovered,
and three from Fiorentina have tested
positive for coronavirus, the clubs announced
on Thursday.
Clubs will have to wait until May 18 at the
earliest to start group training, and the sports
minister warned on Wednesday that it was
“impossible to set a de„inite date” for the
resumption of matches.
AC Milan technical director Paolo Maldini,
who is recovering, and Juventus striker
Paulo Dybala, who has been given the all
clear, were among the most notable early
football victims.
In Portugal, three players at top-„light
Vitoria Guimaraes have tested positive.
They “are clinically healthy, asymptomatic
and inquarantine,” the club said in a statement
on Saturday.
The government announced on April
30 that the „irst division was authorised to
resume from the last weekend in May, behind
closed doors and subject to the approval of a
health protocol.
European leagues move at
different speeds toward restart
WELLINGTON (AP) — A domestic
tournament involving New Zealand’s „ive
Super Rugby teams will begin on June
13 after the New Zealand government
yesterday loosened restrictions on sporting
competitions imposed because of the
coronavirus pandemic.
The tournament is called Super Rugby
Aotearoa and involves the Auckland-based
Blues, Hamilton-based Chiefs, Wellington-
based Hurricanes, Christchurch-based
Crusaders and Dunedin-based Highlanders.
Players will be given four weeks to prepare.
Teams will play each other home and
away over 10 weeks, with two matches
per weekend in empty stadiums. While
New Zealand moved yesterday to Alert
Level 2, mostly ending a „ive-week national
lockdown, restrictions remain on the size of
public gatherings. Fans will not be able to
return to stadiums until those guidelines are
further relaxed.
The Highlanders will play the Chiefs in
Dunedin on June 13 and the Blues will play
the Hurricanes in Auckland on June 14 in the
„irst round of matches.
“The thought of „ive world-class Kiwi
teams battling it out in 20 matches over 10
weeks should put a smile back on the faces
of many people,” New Zealand Rugby chief
executive Mark Robinson said. “I know our
players are excited and I’m sure rugby fans
will be as well.”
File photo shows Hurricanes and Crusaders players during the Super Rugby semi- inal in
Christchurch, New Zealand. PHOTO: AP
New Zealand resumes Super Rugby without fans on June 13
New Zealand Rugby chief medical
of„icer Karen Rasmussen said strict safety
protocols, worked out in consultation with
the government, will be applied.
Players and team of„icials will face
daily symptom and temperature checks
and there will be stringent hygiene and
cleaning requirements.
President of the Spanish La Liga Javier
Tebas. PHOTO: AP