Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez is optimistic sport will soon be able to resume but warned crowds will have to stay away.

The country has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, suffering over 25,000 deaths, but the infection rate has been falling since its early-April peak.

There are now hopes that professional sport, including football's LaLiga, will return to lift spirits after being put on hold in March.

Asked in a news conference on Saturday about that prospect, Sanchez said: "I am more basketball than football, but hopefully soon. It will be the federations and the leagues that decide.

"We have begun to allow individual training in team sports, hopefully it will be as soon as possible."

There is believed to be no possibility of sport in front of crowds for now.

Sanchez added: "Obviously we will see it earlier on television than in stadiums, I'm afraid."

LaLiga is expected to push for a return to competition by mid-June, its president Javier Tebas has indicated.