Coronavirus: Current situation in every major European football league

Posted by

Football has been suspended across Europe’s top leagues with the suspension kicking in earlier in March due to the coronavirus.

However, some countries are close to restarting their respective leagues. Here we take a look at the current status among all major leagues in Europe, according to Sky Sports. 

Premier League

It has been reported that Premier League clubs want the season to finish by 30th June. However, nothing has been decided yet and the season will restart only after the UK government says it’s safe to do so.

EFL

The EFL has temporarily decided on 16th May as a possible return date for players to training. However, with the lockdown extended for a further three weeks, it remains to be seen when the EFL restarts.

Scottish Premiership

The Scottish Premiership remains suspended. However, with the SPFL’s decision to finish the Championship, League One and League Two, there are talks that season could resume behind closed doors, which the Scottish PFA say they will not block. Celtic are top of the table and the SPFL have the right to cancel the season.

Italian Serie A

The Italian Serie A are pushing for the season to be completed. The Italian Sports Minister has stated that Serie A teams can return to training on May 4th. There is a board meeting which is to take place on April 23rd with the view of resuming the season in June.

Spanish La Liga

La Liga president Javier Tebas has stated that May 28th could be a possible date for resuming La Liga. However, training for Spanish clubs will not resume until lockdown restrictions which are in place till April 26th are lifted.

French Ligue 1

Ligue 1 is scheduled to resume on June 3rd or June 17th with the latter date being more likely for the restart of football in France. Should the season resume on June 17th, teams are to play matches every three days to finish the season by July 25th with relegation and play offs to be decided by August 2nd. Meanwhile, the French cup final between Paris Saint-Germain and St.Etienne is to be played on 27th June, while the League Cup final between PSG and Lyon is scheduled for July 11th.

German Bundesliga

The Bundesliga could be the league that resumes football the quickest across Europe with the intended date of restarting the season fixed for May 9th with the games to be held behind closed doors. All public gatherings in Germany have been banned till August but all Bundesliga teams are back in training at the moment.

Dutch Eredivisie 

The Dutch Eredivisie is set to resume on June 19th, but behind closed doors, according to the plans of the Dutch FA. Dutch clubs could return to training in mid-May, however, the top clubs like Ajax, AZ Alkmaar and PSV Eindhoven want the season to be cancelled, according to the report.

Belgian Pro League

The Belgian Pro League board have planned to cancel the season with Club Brugge declared as champions. However, the decision is yet to be accepted by the Belgian FA as they prepare to hold a meeting on April 24th.

Portuguese Primeira Liga

The Portuguese Primeira Liga was suspended indefinitely on March 12th with 10 games remaining in the season.

UEFA Champions League and Europa League

The UEFA Champions League and Europa League have been pushed back for completion at the end of August. UEFA is discussing viable options to complete this season’s Champions League and Europa League with the finals for each competition to be held on 29th August and 26th August respectively.