- League president wants to fill 10-15% of capacity
- Spanish first division resumes on Thursday
La Liga may welcome back supporters before the end of the season, according to the league’s president, Javier Tebas.
Competition restarts on Thursday with the first of 110 top-flight games to be played by 19 July and although it does so behind closed doors there are hopes a limited number of fans may return at some grounds soon.
“If we can get 10% or 15% [of the capacity], we would be happy,” said Tebas, who confirmed the 2020-21 season would start on 12 September.
The government’s protocol for the relaxation of the lockdown allows for the return of fans from 29 June. That would potentially mean stadiums opening their doors for five match days before the season is concluded.
“The pandemic is on a sharp decline,” Tebas said. “The return to stadiums would have to be coordinated by the ministry for health and the Consejo Superior de Deportes [The Sports Council, effectively Spain’s sports ministry], and it is obviously not going to be the whole stadium. If we can get 10%, 15% this season we would be very happy. It would be part of that ‘normality’; it is important that fans start to return.”
When plans were put together for the return of football, the understanding was that the league would be completed entirely behind closed doors. At that stage Tebas told club presidents not to expect to see fans in stadiums until 2021 but recent proposals had next season beginning with grounds at 30% capacity.
Now it appears they can get ahead of schedule, although some clubs are understood not to be keen. Real Madrid and Levante have sought alternative facilities for the rest of this season having committed to completing building work at their stadiums. Real will play at their Valdebebas training ground and Levante will hold their games 140km away from their Ciutat de Valencia stadium. Osasuna’s El Sadar stadium is also undergoing building work, radically reducing its capacity in the event of supporters being allowed back.
The prospect of fans returning this season was first raised by Miguel-Ángel Ramírez, the president of second division Las Palmas, who unexpectedly and unilaterally announced that supporters would be able to attend their first game back – against Girona on Saturday night.
He argued that because Las Palmas had already entered phase three of the government’s protocol, mass events were permitted, pending permission from the local health authorities to whom he had sent a health and safety protocol.
The sports council, together with the ministry of health, put the brakes on that plan, with Irene Lozano, the secretary of state for sport, insisting fans should return only when all clubs were able to reopen. Tebas, though, supported the idea of each club getting fans in as soon as possible, even if its application is uneven. With every region in phase three by July, he has now expressed optimism about a gradual return.
Tebas also said the new season would start on 12 September even if Spanish teams are involved in the latter stages of European competition.
Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, Getafe and Sevilla are still involved, raising the prospect that their season may not end until late August, but Tebas said that should not stop La Liga getting under way again.
“If we need to we will adapt their fixture list, so that their games get played,” he said. “They will start on September 19, September 26; it won’t be easy [but] we will look for dates for them to [make up] those matches. You can’t change things for 20 clubs to suit two; it is much better that those two adapt.”
