Spain’s Minister of Health has cast major doubt on aspirations from La Liga to have fans back in football stadiums by September.
There had been expectations that supporters would be allowed to return to grounds from the start of the 2020-21 campaign with hopes that the coronavirus pandemic would have eased by that stage.
However, local infection rates across Spain remain high and whilst the number of deaths and patients in intensive care are not close to the suffering at the peak of the initial outbreak, there is pessimism that there will be a return to normality this calendar year.
Spain’s Minister of Health Salvador Illa was asked directly if he believes fans would be allowed back into football stadiums in September, but his answer did not provide much hope for authorities.
“Today I cannot see it, I am very sincere, today I cannot see it,” Illa explained on Cadena Ser’s El Larguero show.
“With the epidemiological reality that we have, I cannot see it happening.”
📻 ⚽️ @ManuCarreno: “¿Pensar que pueda haber público en los estadios en septiembre es una quimera?”
👔 @salvadorilla, en @ellarguero
🗣️ “Yo hoy no lo veo, soy muy sincero, hoy no lo veo. Con la realidad epidemiológica que tenemos no lo veo” pic.twitter.com/3zfs5SbPid
— El Larguero (@ellarguero) July 15, 2020
Spanish football resumed last month in order to complete the 2019-20 campaign and whilst it has been pulled off successfully so far, fans have not been allowed to return to stadiums.