MADRID: Professional football in Spain will remain suspended until further notice to limit the spread of coronavirus, La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said in a joint statement on Monday.

All organised football in Spain had been postponed for two weeks due to the spread of the coronavirus but was initially due to resume on April 3.

The statement said a joint commission between the two bodies had agreed to postpone all professional football competitions until the Spanish government considered they could start again “without creating any health risk”.

RFEF chief Luis Rubiales last week ruled out cancelling the current season, insisting the campaign would resume once the health crisis was under control.

The joint statement read: “The Monitoring Comm­ission established by the current RFEF-La Liga Coord­ination Agreement agrees the suspension of professional football competitions until the authorities of the Government of Spain and the General Administration of the State consider they can be resumed without creating any health risk.

“Both the RFEF and LaLiga wish to express our greatest public gratitude to all those who are dedicating their best efforts to provide essential services to the Spanish people. We also share our condolences for all the deceased and a warm embrace from the world of soccer to the many families that are losing loved ones.”

More than 33,000 people have been infected by the virus in Spain while over 2,180 people have died from it according to the country’s health ministry, making it the third worst-affected country in the world, behind only Italy and China.

The Spanish government declared a state of alarm on March 14 and intends to extend the lockdown imposed on the population until at least April 11.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2020