La Liga president Javier Tebas responded with bemusement to news the French season will end with 10 rounds of matches still to be played.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe’s announcement that sport in the country will not be allowed to resume before summer effectively ends the season, but Tebas warned football could disappear if it failed to restart.

He said: ‘I do not understand why there would be more danger in playing football behind closed doors, with all precautionary measures, than working on an assembly line or being on a fishing boat on the high seas.

‘If important economic sectors cannot restart, in a safe and controlled manner, they could end up disappearing. That could happen to professional football.’

On Tuesday Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the lifting of various restrictions on Spain’s lockdown including individual training for athletes in professional leagues.

La Liga will now press ahead with plans to test all players and allow them to train alone in the first of a four phase programme of return.

With a nod towards the Premier League which saw some clubs return to training on Monday, Tebas said: ‘In other countries teams are already training, that’s the example to follow.

‘In Spain football is an important economic driver that we need to reactivate like many others.

‘We continue to focus on this reactivation, in a responsible manner and adhering to health recommendations, as soon as possible.’