BARCELONA, (Reuters) – Spanish soccer’s top flight division La Liga can return to action from June 8 after being disrupted by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said yesterday.

All organised soccer in Spain was provisionally suspended on March 12 although clubs in the top two divisions have since returned to group training.

La Liga has yet to officially confirm a date on which it will resume, although its president Javier Tebas had said previously he hoped the season could do so from June 12.

Players in the English Premier League have returned to small group training with their clubs ahead of a possible resumption in June, although nothing has so far been agreed.

Spain has also begun to relax one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, with the provinces of Madrid and Barcelona set to allow gatherings of up to 10 people from tomorrow as they move into the first phase of a de-escalation.