Slovenian top football league to resume early June

LJUBLJANA - After being halted in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Slovenian national football championship will resume on June 5, the Slovenian Football Association (NZS) announced on Tuesday.

Players in the Prva Liga Telekom Slovenije, the top league, are already training as the authorities have allowed team sports practice as of this Monday.

The NZS said the full schedule would be confirmed by the executive committee next week, adding that the national football cup competition would also resume next month.

The cup semifinals will be played on June 9 and 10, and the final match on June 24, all of them on the neutral pitch of the National Football Center in Brdo pri Kranju, without spectators.

The NZS said that all measures to limit COVID-19 infection would be implemented and that a relevant protocol would be drafted in cooperation with the National Public Health Institute by the start of the first game.

The national championship was halted after 25 out of the 36 scheduled rounds played. Olimpija Ljubljana leads the standings with 50 points, ahead of Celje and Aluminij (45 each). The defending champion Maribor is fourth at 43 points.

While the first league and national cup for men are set to resume, the NZS had already ended the second league for men and the first league for women earlier this month.