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Portugal’s Primeira Liga to return on 4 June from coronavirus suspension

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The Primeira Liga will return to action on 4 June, the league has announced.

Portugal’s top flight has been on hold since 12 March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The country’s prime minister, Antonio Costa, last month gave the go-ahead for the league to resume behind closed doors from 30 May, and the league has now confirmed that it will begin play just days later.

In a statement, Liga Portugal confirmed the 25th round of fixtures will take place from 4 June.

It read: ‘Over the past few days, various entities have carried out successive alignment meetings so that the recovery can take place safely and with all the protection measures that mitigate the risks of returning to the activity.

‘It is anticipated that this joint work by DGS [directorate-general of health of Portugal], FPF [Portuguese Football Federation] and Liga Portugal will serve as a model for the resumption of other economic activities, with the aim of this professional competition providing an example of the good practices that this pandemic imposes on us.

‘In order to ensure that the stadiums are strictly inspected and medical tests are carried out on all professionals involved in the games and their organisation, the date of June 4, 2020 is set for the first game of the 25th round of the Liga NOS.’

Porto were a point clear of Benfica at the top of the table when the season was suspended, and each club has 10 fixtures still to play.

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

Next door to Portugal, Spain’s LaLiga is looking to return from its suspension on 12 June.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has targeted that date for the league’s resumption, promising matches ‘every day for 35 days’.

Every major European league will be following the lead of the Bundesliga, which is set to resume play this weekend after going in hiatus in March.

The Premier League has also been suspended since March, but could be set for a return soon with the UK government having recently cleared the league to resume play on 1 June.