Return of Portuguese football games depends on health authorities: FPF

LISBON - The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said on Tuesday that they will respect and wait for the decisions of public health authorities to confirm the return of the Primeira Liga.

"The resumption of professional competitions is dependent on the evaluation of the health authorities taking into account the evolution of the pandemic", FPF President Fernando Gomes said after meeting with Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

The prime minister discussed the situation of the football industry with Gomes and the presidents of the three largest football clubs in the country, Luis Filipe Vieira of Benfica, Pinto da Costa of FC Porto and Frederico Varandas of Sporting.

The unprecedented meeting was also attended by League President Pedro Proenca and CEO of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) Tiago Craveiro.

Antonio Costa is expected to announce the schedule and conditions for the return of the competitions on Thursday.

The resumption of the sport will have security measures to prevent new contagions of COVID-19, which could mean events without the presence of an audience.

Fernando Gomes made it clear that the meeting with Antonio Costa served to "draw attention to the interest of the football industry in reactivating its activity".

He also revealed that he already has a "recovery plan prepared by the League" that is being analyzed by epidemiologist Henrique Barros, former Minister of Health.

One of the alternatives would be to carry out the games in a single region: "It is something that fits the risk assessment", said Gomes.

Jose Manuel Constantino, president of the Olympic Committee of Portugal, said that there is a "manifestation of willingness on the part of the Government to find possible solutions for the resumption of sports activities".

However, he said that the return of "team sports and physical contact is difficult".

The state of emergency ends on May 2, and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has already said that he does not intend to extend it.

Portugal registered 295 new cases of infection and 20 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 948 deaths and 24,322 cases of infection, according to the bulletin of the Directorate-General for Health on Tuesday.

The number of recovered cases rose by 32 and is now 1,389, while the number of hospitalized patients has also dropped to 936, 59 less than the previous day.