La Liga chief sounds warning after Barca's Nelson Semedo flouts rules

Jun 12, 2020 06:00 am

La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned players they could be made to attend closed training camps if the league's protocol on social gatherings is not adhered to, after Barcelona defender Nelson Semedo became the latest player to flout the rules.

Semedo was caught on Spanish television at a gathering of more than 20 people on Monday, with Barca saying on their website he did not train yesterday due to the league's protocol, which provides strict rules on players' activities.

Tebas said Semedo would have to test negative for Covid-19 before he was allowed to be named in the squad for Barca's match away to Real Mallorca on Sunday morning (Singapore time), their first since the season was halted in March due to the pandemic.

Four Sevilla players flouted the rules last month by attending a large gathering where social distancing was not observed and Tebas said if the problem persisted, the league might have to take action.

"If players keep breaking the rules, we'll have to consider having obligatory training camps. We hope it doesn't come to that but, if people keep going to barbecues and parties, we might have to," Tebas said yesterday.

"We wanted to do this a few weeks ago, but we saw that players were complying with the protocols. But, if we start to see three or four players at each club disobeying these rules, then we'll have no other remedy." - REUTERS