Portuguese football to restart from June 4 with strict medical protocol

Players will have to pass coronavirus tests twice a week and matches will be played 'in the fewest number of stadiums possible'

BS Web Team agencies New Delhi and Lisbon

3 min read Last Updated : May 13 2020 | 12:26 PM IST

Portugal's football competition Primeira Liga will restart the season on June 4, the country's football league announced.

"We wish to guarantee stadiums are rigorously inspected and the professionals are tested. June 4 is the date when the 25th round of matches of Liga Portugal can resume," the league said statement said.

At the end of last month Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa had announced the final weekend of May as the restart date for the country's top flight.

The Portuguese government have said the last 10 rounds of the season, which was suspended on March 12, will have to be played according to strict medical protocol.

Germany's football competition, Bundesliga is also restarting its season this week and the first set of matches will be played on Saturday, May 16.

Players will have to pass coronavirus tests twice a week and matches will be played "in the fewest number of stadiums possible". Authorities will now identify which grounds matches can be played in.

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The league's announcement comes a day after Benfica announced its midfielder David Tavares had tested positive for Covid-19.

Benfica said that Tavares, 21, who is not a regular first-team player, was asymptomatic and in quarantine. His positive test follows Vitoria Guimaraes confirming three positive cases on Saturday and Moreirense one more.

The overall tally for positive cases in the Primeira Liga is at least eight players.

Each club in the competition still has 10 matches left to play.

There have been nearly 28,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Portugal, resulting in more than 1,100 deaths.

Porto are top of the league, one point ahead of reigning champions Benfica, with Braga and Sporting Lisbon 13 and 15 points back respectively.

Top 10 teams as of March 9, 2020

Position	Team	Points	Win	Draw	Loss	Goal for	Goal against	Goal difference	Points
1	Porto	24	19	3	2	50	16	34	60
2	Benfica	24	19	2	3	52	14	38	59
3	Braga	24	14	4	6	41	26	15	46
4	Sporting CP	24	13	3	8	37	26	11	42
5	Rio Ave	24	10	8	6	32	23	9	38
6	Guimaraes	24	10	7	7	40	25	15	37
7	Famalicao	24	10	7	7	38	40	-2	37
8	Moreirense	34	7	9	8	34	32	2	30
9	Gil Vicente	24	7	9	8	25	29	-4	30
10	Santa Clara	24	8	6	10	19	26	-7	30