Soccer return: between the tactical date (23-A) and the dream date (10-M)

LaLiga and the Federation have just made official what was an open secret, that soccer in Spain, professional and non-professional, is suspended until the Government, the State and Health administrations say that it can be resumed without health risks. Once the Alarm State was extended until April 11, this news advanced by AS four days ago was as expected since until now only two days had been suspended. Now the question everyone is asking is when can the competition really come back?

No one knows because the coronavirus is the boss. So no one dares put a date on the table anymore. Another thing is forecasting. At AS we have been telling on time that LaLiga sent five different calendars to UEFA nine days ago to start working on them the short-term future of all leagues and international competitions that, as a novelty, will have to overlap in the coming months if the season is to end before June 30 as Javier Tebas and as you think is possible. But at this time no one can guarantee what will happen.

In these offered alternatives there were several key dates. From the most optimistic, on April 23, to the most pessimistic, which would be to leave at the end of May or even not being able to contest the remaining 11 days and designate the champion, relegation and promotion in the offices, albeit reluctantly, under UEFA guidelines. However, in this last week, at least in Spain, one date has taken more weight than all the others in a very cautious way. It is May 10, in a day that could start on Saturday May 9 and that would be expected to be held even until Thursday 14.

The consulted clubs, who have participated in these telematic meetings organized by LaLiga, understand that it has been a good idea to propose different options but that the date of April 23, as well as that of May 2 and 3, were more geared towards not alarming than the hypothetical return from the competition. Above all, it has been understood by many presidents as a nod to the sponsors, operators, telecommunications companies and, above all, to the viewers who are key in this entertainment industry. The fact that it shows that the competition may end “perfectly” and that, in addition, it could not take long to restart has helped the private losses of television contracts have been contained. Even so, platforms such as Movistar +, for example, have moved very quickly to enable their subscribers, provisionally and while the confinement lasts, other channels that they did not enjoy to counter the lack of football that had been contracted since last summer . A general stampede would have been devastating for televisions and, by extension, for clubs since a large part of the income they account for in their budgets comes from the audiovisual business.

The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has already made clear in his public interventions that the return to normality will be staggered and that it will not go from one day to the next from the State of Alarm to that of daily life. For this reason, although the end of the confinement is set for April 11, the teams will have to return little by little to their usual activity and carry out a mini-preseason under strict rules of safety and health surveillance that could delay the return of the competition. Hence, there is more talk these days of the period from May 10 to 14 as the most real date and that even LaLiga and the RFEF have agreed on a statement in which the competition is suspended 'sine die'. Although it is already known, here the one that will decide when yes and when will not be the COVID-19.