‘I think it’s unworkable’: Barcelona boss Quique Setien criticises LaLiga plans to resume Spanish season by June amid the coronavirus crisis
- Quique Setien is pessimistic that the LaLiga season will be able to resume
- The league’s president said matches could start again as early as May 29
- However Setien said the conditions for the campaign restarting are ‘unworkable’
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
Barcelona coach Quique Setien is pessimistic that the Spanish top flight season will be able to be completed and has called LaLiga‘s conditions for the campaign recommencing ‘a non-starter’ due to the continued threat of the novel coronavirus.
LaLiga has been on hold since March 10 due to the pandemic although president Javier Tebas has said matches could start up again on either May 29, June 7 or June 28, most likely without spectators.
Tebas has estimated Spanish clubs would lose around one billion euros (£872million) if the season is not completed.
Barcelona boss Quique Setien is pessimistic that the LaLiga season will be completed
The Spanish league has been on hold since March 10 due to the coronavirus outbreak
A draft of the league’s protocol, seen by Reuters, for returning to training and matches once given the green light by health authorities recommends that clubs hold training camps at their training grounds or hotels for a two-week period before matches can start again.
Only first team players, coaching staff and a small number of other staff would be allowed to access the facility, with everyone at the training camp being subjected to two COVID-19 tests before accessing the site.
Testing would continue to take place during the camps, added the protocol.
But Setien, whose Barca side held a two-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the standings when the campaign was indefinitely postponed, does not think it is so simple.
Setien doesn’t agree with the plans laid out to get the season back up and running quickly
‘Everyone wants to be ready for when the season starts again but that cannot happen until the health authorities can guarantee that there will be no problems,’ Setien told Catalan radio station RAC1 on Thursday.
‘I have read the protocol and the reality is I don’t know if it can be carried out as it is written, I think it’s unworkable, I think it’s very difficult logistically.’
Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets also expressed doubts about the feasibility of clubs holding training camps.
‘We can start training again little by little but it will be difficult once everyone comes together and the competition starts again and teams start travelling,’ he told Spanish radio stations Onda Cero and Cadena Cope.
‘I have heard that LaLiga wants teams to concentrate for a few months, I think that’s too much and it cannot be done. There will be too many problems.’
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets is also concerned about the timeline of the plans
LaLiga declined to comment on Setien and Busquets’ comments although a source close to the matter said stakeholders were continuing to discuss a plan to return to matches along with the association of European leagues.
‘The objective of LaLiga is to create a protocol of the highest possible standard that can allow return to training and get us in a good, healthy, way to the light at the end of this dark tunnel,’ added the source.
More than 19,000 people have died from the coronavirus in Spain although this week the government loosened the terms of a strict lockdown to allow some businesses back to work.
