Stadiums

Major League Soccer will resume the regular season with clubs playing in their home cities starting from Aug. 12 following the end of the single-site tournament in Florida that was designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the league said on Saturday.

The majority of matches will be played without fans in attendance and the regular season will lead into an expanded 18-team post-season, culminating with the MLS Cup on Dec. 12, MLS added in a news release.

Spain's health minister has expressed doubt about the prospect of spectators returning to soccer matches in September due to the threat of a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.

The government's department for sport and organizing body LaLiga had hoped to let fans back into stadiums at a reduced capacity when the new season starts in September, increasing to 50% in November before full capacity returned in January.

Professional soccer returned to Japan on Saturday after more than a three-month layoff. While the first round of matches was played in empty arenas, fans of Japanese soccer will now be able to attend games in person.

Beginning Friday, July 10, capacity at matches will be limited to 5,000 fans, or 50 percent capacity in stadiums that hold less than 10,000 spectators. The announcement was made following a joint coronavirus task force meeting Monday that included health officials and leaders from Japanese sports leagues. 

Liverpool made it 17 wins out of 17 at Anfield after goals by Sadio Mane and Curtis Jones handed the champions a 2-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday which pushed Dean Smith's side deeper into trouble.

Following their 4-0 mauling at the hands of Manchester City on Thursday, Juergen Klopp's side struggled to break down a determined Villa. Klopp fielded another strong side but with the ground empty and the title already in the bag, there was a lack of edge to Liverpool's play.

Football supporters groups from around Europe have criticized attempts to liven up matches in empty stadiums by using artificial crowd noise, describing it as a rebuke to match-going fans.

The fans said that the recent return of football following the coronavirus stoppage, with matches behind closed doors, had shown that supporters were "the lifeblood of the game" and their contribution should be recognized by leagues and clubs.

This season's Champions League, suspended in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be completed with an eight-team mini-tournament which will be held in Lisbon in August, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Wednesday.

The quarterfinals and semifinals will be staged over one leg, instead of the usual two, with the final to be held on Aug. 23, UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti said after an executive committee meeting held by video conference.

LaLiga will use virtual images of stands in television broadcasts with added “fan audio,” produced by the makers of the FIFA video game, when it returns to action on Thursday.

Domestic broadcasters in Spain will offer their viewers the choice of a “natural” broadcast of games played behind closed doors with no fans but the international audience will receive only the enhanced broadcasts with added audio and graphics.

In an act of solidarity that mirrors D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser’s decision to paint “Black Lives Matter” in giant yellow capital letters across several city blocks running towards the White House, D.C. United has voiced its support for protests across America by painting “I CAN’T BREATHE” and “BLM” on its playing surface at Audi Field.  

Runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool should play Everton at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby instead of the game being switched to a neutral venue as local authorities can now provide a safe environment, Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said on Sunday.

Liverpool will resume their quest for a first top-flight title in 30 years against Everton on June 21 but the venue for the behind-closed-doors fixture was not confirmed when the league released its revised fixtures for the season's restart.