By Tim Stannard/beIN SPORTS USA

French government to potentially announce sports return put off until August to cast doubt over Ligue 1's future

Rather serious concepts such as governments and the health of the people look like standing in the way of soccer's relentless desire to resume activities in Europe.

Sports Burst predicted that the next seven days were going to be crucial for the sport. Tuesday looks like a key moment in that timetable with the French government announcing whether the country's strict lockdown measures will continue or be eased. 

L'Equipe is fearing the worst by reporting that authorities are expected to announce that sporting events, even behind closed doors, will not be able to return in France until August, similar to the ban put in place by the Dutch government that caused the cancellation of the Eredivisie's current campaign. That very much puts the future of the current Ligue 1 season in doubt. 

Indeed, it also puts the actual future of a number of smaller clubs into doubt with no income over the next four months, to make it a total of six months in an economic shutdown. 

Serie A threatens season cancellation in feud with government

There are also concerns in Italy over the future of the Serie A season according to media reports in the country. 

Clubs were expecting a return to training - on a restricted, individual basis - from May 4th. However, that permission may not be given by the Italian government until May 18th. Matches need to return by June 14th or the season will be called off, claim Serie A bosses. There is even talk of legal action from Serie A teams against Italian authorities for they see as an unnecessary delay. 

Further news from Spain could be forthcoming today in regards to a possible resumption of training for players. However, as Raphael Varane of Real Madrid noted in a recent chat with the French Football Federation, "there's no return date for now."

Premier League clubs will be meeting on Friday and are expected to be given health protocols for a formal restart to training, although three teams including Arsenal have opened their training centers for individual sessions. The EPL is still reportedly targeting a June 8th restart.

On Monday, the Argentine league took the decision to cancel the rest of the domestic season with Boca Juniors having already been declared as Superliga champions.

The Sports Burst live show will bring you all the latest from around Europe at 12PM ET / 9AM PT on the beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page, Youtube channel and beIN XTRA channel. 

NBA floats return to training plan on May 8th

The NBA is also getting itchy for a return to action, although a resumption of actual games seems like a very long way, away. 

The first step is to get players back in training and the NBA is targeting May 8th as a date when training facilities could be opened for players to come in on a voluntary basis.

However, it definitely won't be business as usual with only four players allowed at the same time with one member of staff and a distance of 12-feet being maintained between athletes. 

ESPN reports that the Lakers have been in touch with the Los Angeles mayor's office to seek permission to join the restart despite a stay-at-home order in the city until May 15th. 

The Sports Burst PM show at 7PM ET on beIN SPORTS has an exclusive live chat with MLS playing legend and Sporting Kansas City coach, Peter Vermes, who will talk about how the lay of the land is in the US.