Report: La Liga matches won't have fans until 2021

Whenever the Spanish top-flight football league resumes play amid the coronavirus pandemic, games will be played without fans in stadiums for the foreseeable future.

On Thursday morning, ESPN's Alex Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez reported that La Liga clubs have been informed that football matches will be played behind closed doors for the remainder of 2020.

Spain suspended professional football competitions across the country on March 23 because of the virus outbreak. Currently, there is no set date for leagues to resume.

Earlier in the day, Sid Lowe of The Guardian reported Spanish footballers will undergo daily coronavirus tests as part of their return to team training sessions that are set to commence the second week of May. Lowe added:

The league’s three scenarios for a return to competition, in line with UEFA and Europe’s major leagues, plan for a restart on 28 May, 6 June or 28 June.

As the ESPN story explained, Spain is a European nation particularly devastated by the coronavirus. As of April 23, over 22,000 people in the country have died due to the virus.

Also on Thursday, ESPN's Mark Ogden reported that UEFA has deemed European competitions such as La Liga must, if at all possible, finish their 2019-20 seasons for clubs to be eligible for the subsequent Champions League and Europa League tournaments. UEFA has also presented the possibility of leagues using tournaments to confirm spots for the top European competitions if necessary. 

Per the official UEFA statement: 

The ideal scenario, should the pandemic situation permit it, is to have the currently suspended domestic competitions completed enabling football clubs to qualify for UEFA club competitions on sporting merit in their original format. Should this outcome not be possible, in particular due to calendar issues, it would be preferable that suspended domestic competitions would restart with a different format in a manner which would still facilitate clubs to qualify on sporting merit.

As things stand today, La Liga still has 11 matchdays remaining on its planned calendar. Barcelona, on 58 points, hold a two-point advantage over rivals and fellow Spanish giants Real Madrid atop the table. Sevilla are on 47 points. Both Real Sociedad and Getafe are on 46, and Atletico Madrid sit on 45 points.