Liga Portugal earlier announced that the Primeira Liga (Liga NOS) will return to action on the 4th of June, following a break of 88 days due to COVID-19.
The Liga’s statement outlined the plans for the resumption of football, which will obviously be played ‘behind-closed-doors’ with no spectators.
The statement read: “Over the past few days, various entities have carried out successive alignment meetings so that the recovery can take place safely and with all the protection measures that mitigate the risks of returning to the activity.
It is anticipated that this joint work by DGS [Directorate-General of Health of Portugal], FPF and Liga Portugal will serve as a model for the resumption of other economic activities, with the aim of this professional competition providing an example of the good practices that this pandemic imposes on us. In order to ensure that the stadiums are strictly inspected and medical tests are carried out on all professionals involved in the games and their organisation, the date of June 4, 2020 is set for the first game of the 25th round of the Liga NOS.”
Several Primeira Liga clubs have been hit by COVID-19 in recent days, with SL Benfica’s David Tavares contracting the virus, as well as 4 Famalicão players, 2 Vitória SC players, a Moreirense player and an U23 player for Belenenses SAD. Whether the league will go ahead on the 4th depends entirely on the scale of how affected the clubs are, come June 4th. The gap between today (12 May 2020) and the start date has been put in place to give those affected enough time to recover and for the Primeira Liga clubs to begin full contact training, in preparation for the matches.
FC Porto go into Jornada 25 at the summit of the table, with a 1 point advantage over rivals SL Benfica. Aves are at the foot of the table on 13 points, 3 points off 17th place Portimonense and 9 points off Paços who are outside the drop zone.
