Bogota: Colombian football is poised to restart in September, six months after it was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Ivan Duque has said.

Clubs returned to training in July in the hope of resuming competitions in August. However, a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the South American country has prompted officials to put those plans on hold, reports Xinhua news agency.

“The important thing is to try to have a reactivation in the month of September, ” Duque told Blu Radio. “We have seen promising signs following the restart of training with no (cases within clubs). I think that by ensuring regular testing and monitoring, we can resume.”Duque also raised the prospect of staging all first division matches in one city in an effort to reduce the risk of contagion among players, fans and officials.

“It is something that will have to be discussed in the coming days with the clubs, ” he added.Colombia has the world’s 10th highest number of coronavirus infections with more than 327, 000 confirmed cases. Over 11, 000 people have died from the virus in the Andean nation, according to health ministry figures published late Monday.