Fans

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.

BUCHAREST — A Universitatea Cluj fan was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for trying to kill a police officer during a Romanian first division relegation playoff match last year.

Vidrean Ovidiu Traian was found guilty of attempted murder after he hit the policeman over the head with a seat, leaving him unconscious and covered in blood, during the game in June against AFC Hermannstadt at the Cluj Arena.

The incident took place amid clashes between Universitatea supporters and police with fans throwing seats, stones and other objects at the officers.

With fans barred from entering stadiums due to the impact of coronavirus, Danish league leaders FC Midtjylland took an imaginative approach to their return to action with a 'drive-in' broadcast for supporters.

The club installed giant screens in the parking lot of their MCH Arena to allow fans to watch matches from the their cars from the more than 2,000 available spaces.

MOSCOW — Russia's Sports Minister said on Friday he welcomed a decision by the authorities to allow spectators into stadiums when matches in the country's top professional soccer league resume next month.

The Russian Premier League halted matches in mid-March because of the COVID-19 crisis and is set to resume action on June 21.

"It's important that the soccer championship resumes in the presence of spectators, even though small in number," Russian news agencies quoted Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin as saying.

European football will continue its cautious return to play following the COVID-19 stoppage over the next week as a number of the continent's smaller leagues restart with some novelties and one team in serious trouble for breaking coronavirus rules. 

Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Serbia, Austria, Croatia and Ukraine are among countries which will again be able to enjoy league football, albeit in unusual circumstances with no spectators allowed at games. They join Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia and the Faroe Islands where play has already restarted. 

Italy's top-flight Serie A soccer league has been given the go-ahead to restart on June 20 following the novel coronavirus stoppage, sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday. He added that there was a possibility the resumption of the season, which was suspended on March 9, could be preceded by Italian Cup matches one week earlier. 

"Italy is starting up again and it's only right that football can also get going," he told reporters after a conference call with representatives from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). 

After weeks of wrangling, with several U-turns on the way, Italy is due to decide on Thursday if and when its top-flight Serie A soccer league can resume after the coronavirus stoppage. 

Possibly encouraged by seeing how Germany's Bundesliga has restarted without problems so far, the Italian government appears to have relaxed its position recently. 

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."