Real Madrid and Barcelona are vying for the La Liga title (OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
Spanish football’s top flight, La Liga, can resume in early June after getting the greenlight from the country’s government.
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, declared that professional sports competitions will be allowed to return from the week of 8 June, specifically citing La Liga in his announcement.
It comes after the league’s president Javier Tebas had mentioned 12 June, a Friday, as a date they hoped would see the resumption of action, which was suspended due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Players for the 20 La Liga clubs returned to training earlier this week, working in groups of no more than 10.
Barcelona are top of the table as they chase a 27th La Liga title, with fierce rivals Real Madrid just two points behind in second.
Australia were dealt an early blow in their quest to reach the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup after the depleted former champions crashed to a 23-run defeat by Zimbabwe in Colombo on Friday.
Arsenal has wasted the chance to restore their six-point lead at the top of the Premier League table as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Brentford on Thursday, with Noni Madueke's second-half header cancelled out by Keane Lewis-Potter.
Defending champions India continued their march towards the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup with a 93-run win over Namibia in a group A contest at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday.
Brothers Justin and Anthony Mosca guided Twenty20 World Cup debutants Italy to their first win in the tournament, as their unbeaten half-centuries secured a dominant 10-wicket victory over Nepal in a Group C clash on Thursday.