Football cannot fully counter COVID-19 risk, says Brazilian official

RIO DE JANEIRO - There will be no way to completely eliminate health risks when Brazil's national football competitions return from their coronavirus hiatus, a top official said on Sunday.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) is currently preparing protocols for the resumption of the Copa do Brasil and the start of the Brazilian Serie A season.

"Everything is going to be highly thought out so that we can do things safely," Jorge Pagura, the head of the CBF's medical division, said in an interview broadcast on Brazilian television.

"You can never be 100 percent sure of guaranteeing safety. It doesn't matter whether you're in a hospital, a shopping mall or a little shop."

The Copa do Brasil was suspended in March after the first leg of the third round while the Serie A - Brazil's top football division - has yet to begin, having been scheduled to start in May.

Pagura, who is a doctor, said the CBF has not yet set a date for the return of the competitions.

"We are waiting for the [epidemic] curve to start descending," he said. "We have to accept that we'll be partially living with the virus. There's no avoiding that. If you want total protection, you need to live in a bubble. But we will have very safe measures."

Brazil has more than one million confirmed coronavirus cases, over 50,000 of which have been fatal.