LaLiga Santander clubs allowed to train again

LaLiga Santander is set to resume play by June.

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--In a huge breakthrough in the global team sports scene, LaLiga Santander clubs were just given the green light to continue their practices again.

The development came after the Spanish Ministry of Health approved the resumption of sports training sessions despite the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

This return to training has been planned by LaLiga with measures that have been agreed with the relevant sports and health authorities in order to guarantee as much safety as possible for the health of all those involved.

Part of these measures is a medical test to be executed by the club staff to the players to ensure that they are cleared to train again.

Also, the players will only start training alone, but as the four-week gradual return goes on, they can now be cleared to do scrimmages and other activities as a group.

"People’s health is paramount, so we have a comprehensive protocol to safeguard the health of everyone involved as we work to restart LaLiga," Javier Tebas, the president of the league, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The resumption of training is seen as the first step toward the resumption of LaLiga Santander play.

"The return of football is a sign that society is progressing towards the new normal. It will also bring back an element of life that people in Spain and around the world know and love," added Tebas, who is eyeing to resume action by June.

Prior to the postponement of play, archrivals Barcelona and Real Madrid were engaging in a tight championship race.

Twenty-seven matches in, Barcelona (58 points) is just two points ahead of Real Madrid (56) for the top spot.

Spain has the second most number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world with 219,329 as of posting, 123,486 of which have already recovered.

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