La Liga aiming for June 12 restart - president

La Liga president Javier Tebas hoping Spanish soccer will resume on June 12

SHOWS: MADRID, SPAIN (MAY 10, 2020) (MOVISTAR - Broadcasters: NO ACCESS SPAIN.

MUST COURTESY "EL PARTIDAZO DE MOVISTAR" Digital: NO ACCESS SPAIN.

MUST COURTESY "EL PARTIDAZO DE MOVISTAR) 1.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JAVIER TEBAS, LA LIGA PRESIDENT, SAYING: "I'd like it to be June 12th but we have to be careful, it will depend on many factors such as potential a rise in infections, factors which don't depend on football but on Spanish society.

We have to be very careful and focused on following the health measures.

The virus is still there.

With less infections, but it's still there." 2.

WHITE FLASH 3.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JAVIER TEBAS, LA LIGA PRESIDENT, SAYING: "We're working together with national and international broadcasters on how to watch football avoiding the empty stands, the echo… we hope to have some solid plans this week.

We're carrying out virtual tests and on acoustics too.

"I don't want to pre-empt anything, given that we won't be able to have fans in the stadiums, but the alternatives will be very interesting and groundbreaking when it comes to football broadcasts.

Things will change, we'll be able to move cameras to generate new angles, for example.

"Not having fans in the stadium is a tragedy, but we're going to make the most of situation to ensure that those watching at home can enjoy the football as much as possible." 4.

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(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JAVIER TEBAS, LA LIGA PRESIDENT, SAYING: "Once La Liga restarts, there'll be football every day.

That's the idea, football every day so that we can finish the competition." 6.

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(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JAVIER TEBAS, LA LIGA PRESIDENT, SAYING: "We expected between 25-30 positive cases, basing ourselves on statistics.

The Bundesliga returned 10 positives out of around 1,700 tests.

We calculated our estimate using that number and also the overall coronavirus rate in Spain, which is somewhat higher than in Germany.

It's good news for the football industry, and also for Spanish society in general.

We have clubs all over Spain, and the de-escalation hasn't been the same in every area, but in many parts of the country the number of cases is now very low." 8.

WHITE FLASH 9.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JAVIER TEBAS, LA LIGA PRESIDENT, SAYING: "The risk during games will be zero, or practically zero, because the players will be tested - with only a 5% possible failure rate - 24 hours before.

During the game… there's a university study from the Danish and German Health Ministries which has calculated how long a player is less than a metre away from another during a football match.

Out of 22 players on the pitch, the most time one would spend within a metre of another is 67 seconds, and not face to face.

For the virus to be transmitted, they'd have to be at that proximity for more than 15 minutes, and that won't happen." STORY: La Liga president Javier Tebas has said he hopes Spanish soccer will resume on June 12 after being halted for over three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

All clubs in Spain's top two divisions began testing players for the virus last week and many including La Liga champions Barcelona started individual training, the second step of the league's four-phase protocol for returning to action.

Real Madrid resume individual training on Monday.

"I'd like it to be June 12th but we have to be careful, it will depend on many factors such as potential a rise in infections, factors which don't depend on football but on Spanish society.

We have to be very careful and focused on following the health measures.

The virus is still there.

With less infections, but it's still there," Tebas told Spanish television network Movistar on Sunday (May 10).

Tebas confirmed all matches will take place without spectators, as will be the case when Germany's Bundesliga restarts next week, and he said the league was working on ways to add to the atmosphere although he did not give details.

He also said fixtures would be spread out so that there are matches every day.

The league reported on Sunday that five players across the two divisions had tested positive for the virus and had been ordered to stay isolated at their homes.

They will not be able to return to training grounds until they have tested negative.

Tebas added that three staff members had also tested positive for the virus but he said the number of cases was far lower than expected, insisting there would be no increase in the risk of players getting infected once matches started.

(Production: Andy Ragg)