LaLiga handed lifeline as Spanish government announce players can return to training on May 4 as part of four-step plan
SPANISH Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced that athletes, including footballers, will be able to train individually again on May 4.
Spain has been one of the country's worst-affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with over 232,000 cases and 23,822 confirmed deaths.
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Sanchez, 48, sent the country into full-scale lockdown for six weeks from March 14, with children unable to play outside as the daily death toll reached as high as 950 earlier this month.
With that figure down to 301 yesterday some services have returned to work, with the Spanish PM launching his four-part plan to get the country up and running again - including its football league.
In what has been dubbed "Phase 0", players will be able to use their club's training facilities in order to begin individual work.
Sanchez confirmed: "Professional athletes will be able to train individually starting from May 4.
"Therefore, the opening of individual training sessions for professional and federation athletes and the basic training for [teams of] professional leagues is authorised within Phase 0.
"In the sports industry, the opening of high-performance centres with reinforced hygiene and protection measures and, if possible, shifts, is being contemplated, while medium level training sessions in professional leagues will also be allowed within Phase 1."
And in Phase 2, "cultural events" of under 50 people will be able to take place in closed venues at a third or under of their capacity.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas is fully behind a restart and had earlier thrown his weight behind a controlled return to action.
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He said: "I do not understand why there would be more danger in playing football behind closed doors, with all precautionary measures, than working on an assembly line, being on a fishing boat on the high seas.
"If important economic sectors cannot restart, in a safe and controlled manner, they could end up disappearing. That could happen to professional football.
"In other countries teams are already training, that's the example to follow.
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"In Spain, football is an important economic driver that we need to reactivate like many others. We continue to focus on this reactivation, in a responsible manner and adhering to health recommendations, as soon as possible."
The news came on the same day that European neighbours France axed the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 season after PM Edouard Philippe's canning of all sporting events until September.
The Eredivisie season in Holland and Belgium's Jupiter Pro League have also been scrapped, although Serie A and the Premier League are targeting June returns.