Rio mayor permits clubs to restart training

The city’s mayor met with club representatives on Sunday and agreed that players can immediately begin gym work and physiotherapy, with full training to begin next month.

"The understanding is for the adoption of a security protocol. In this initial phase the clubs can only do physiotherapy, work on rehabilitating the players' muscles (and) physiotherapy with the ball," Mayor Marcelo Crivella said.

"As for collective training and games, it was established these will be permitted only from the start of June."

The decision came a week after Brazilian champions Flamengo brought their players together to restart training, against official guidance.

Two of the city's top clubs, Fluminense and Botafogo, did not attend Sunday’s meeting and are opposed to any quick return.

Brazil has seen more COVID-19 deaths than any country in South America, with the death toll now exceeding 22,000 people.

The Rio de Janeiro state championship, along with Brazil’s other state tournaments, were suspended in mid-March. Other state leagues have yet to rule on when to permit a full return.

The secretary-general of the Brazilian Football Confederation told Reuters last week that competitive football could return by the end of June, with games played behind closed doors. (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier, in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Andrew Downie, editing by Pritha Sarkar)