The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) will return to action in late June with a 25-game tournament in Utah that will be played in empty stadiums due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NWSL, which delayed the start of its season because of the coronavirus, said it has worked with team doctors and public health officials to develop testing protocols to ensure a safe environment for its nine teams during the month-long tournament.
Another European league looks set to restart play soon after the pandemic-enforced shutdown.
According to a report in the Ukrainian press, the country's Premier League has been given the green light to resume play this coming weekend. The Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) and the country's Ministry of Health decided after a meeting that the competition will be allowed to go ahead.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has said he hopes a derby between Real Betis and Sevilla will kick the Spanish top-flight season back into action on June 11 after being paused for three months during the coronavirus pandemic.
"There is a possibility that there is a game on June 11, which would be the only match that night and perhaps there will be a tribute to all the people who have died (from the virus)," Tebas told Spanish television network Movistar on Sunday. "I hope that date can be confirmed and we would like the game to be the Seville derby, kicking off at 10pm."
Throughout the entirety of the 2018-19 Premier League season, the home team won 47% of matches, lost 34% and drew 11%. Prior to the break, home teams in the Bundesliga had won 43.3% of their games. Many wondered what playing behind closed doors would do to home advantage, and the early answer is actually quite astounding.
MILAN — Italy's heritage authority raised no objections to tearing down Milan's 1920s-era San Siro arena, a document seen by Reuters showed, removing a major obstacle to the city's top-flight soccer clubs plans to replace it with a new stadium.
Serie A clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan, respectively owned by U.S. fund Elliott and Chinese electronic retailer Suning, last year filed a request to jointly build a new 60,000-seater stadium in the San Siro area.
Premier League clubs will return to training on Tuesday after agreeing to allow "small group" sessions to begin, with a possible return to normal 'contact' training next week.
The league held a conference call for all 20 clubs on Monday where the move was given unanimous backing but there remains no firm date for the season to resume. Another meeting is scheduled for early next week when the league will decide on whether to move to the second phase which allows for training involving contact.
Bayer Leverkusen thrashed Werder Bremen 4-1 on Monday in a match that showcased exactly why Leverkusen could be playing in the Champions League next season while Werder’s 40-year stay in the top division is almost certainly at an end.
FC Seoul’s 1-0 victory over Gwangju was a steamy and sultry affair at Sangam Stadium on Sunday. With K League matches being played behind closed doors, the 66,000-seat facility was left empty — except for the handful of sex dolls that greeted Han Chan-hee’s winner with expressions of titillated euphoria.
UEFA has a plan to finish the 2019-20 season by August, including the Champions League and Europa League campaigns, the European soccer governing body's president Aleksander Ceferin has said.
The majority of European league seasons were suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic but a few leagues have announced plans for a restart in the coming weeks.
The French and Dutch top-flight campaigns have been cancelled but the German Bundesliga restarted on Saturday and Ceferin expects at least 80% of national leagues to finish their seasons.
The Bundesliga season restarts on May 16, making it the first major European league to resume amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the German Football League (DFL) said fans will not be allowed in stadiums.
Following are the people allowed inside the stadiums as well as the protocols and requirements for Bundesliga clubs to host matches at their stadiums.