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Coronavirus: A-League restart plans unveiled, games planned for mid-July
Written by Sports Desk. Posted in CoronaVirus Watch. | 28 May 2020 | 505 Views
Tags: Football, Coronavirus, Aleague

The 2019-20 A-League season is set to resume in mid-July following the coronavirus-enforced break, provided broadcasters sign off on the plans.

The spread of the global pandemic meant the competition was put on hold back in March, a month before the regular season was due to conclude, with teams having between three and six games remaining.

While the top leagues in France and the Netherlands have been cancelled, the A-League has remained committed to restarting the season and unveiled their schedule for doing so on Thursday.

However, the final proposal, which would see the league and finals series wrapped up within a month, needs to be approved by broadcasters.

Football Federation Australia chief executive James Johnson said: "Ideally mid-June will see players return to training, allowing them to reach the required elite level of fitness for competitive matches to commence by mid-July, and for the A-League finals series to be completed by mid-August.

"The proposed timing will mean that the culmination of the A-League will coincide with the restart of Australian grassroots football, connecting the professional game and our two million participants like never before."

On needing approval from broadcasters before signing off on the plan, Johnson added: "That's the final piece of the jigsaw and once we have it in place we can move forward quickly."

When the season was halted back in March, Sydney FC had an eight-point lead over Melbourne City with three games in hand.