Inter Miami to resume season at home Aug. 22 vs. Orlando City. Here are the details

At long last, Inter Miami will make its home debut on Aug. 22 against Orlando City.

Major League Soccer announced on Saturday its plans to resume the regular season in home markets after spending the past five weeks in an Orlando bubble for the MLS is Back Tournament, which concludes Tuesday with Orlando City playing the Portland Timbers in the final.

The return to play in home stadiums will feature comprehensive health and safety protocols, including regular COVID-19 testing of players, coaches and staff.

In order to reduce travel, teams will play regional opponents between Aug. 22 and Sept. 12. Inter Miami will play home-and-away matches against Atlanta United, Nashville SC and Orlando City. Teams will take chartered flights and buses, and for the majority of road trips will arrive in the host market on match day and depart after the match later that evening. The full schedule is available at https://www.intermiamicf.com/en/schedule.

After playing Orlando City at home on Aug. 22, Inter Miami will host Atlanta United on Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. and then hit the road for a pair of road games — Aug. 30 at Nashville SC (8:30 p.m.) and Sept. 2 at Atlanta United (7 pm). The team is back home Sept. 6 against Nashville (8 p.m.) and then plays at Orlando City Sept. 12 (7:30 p.m.)

MLS plans to announce the rest of the regular season schedule by early September as the league continues to work with infectious disease experts, league and club medical personnel, and government officials.

Each club will play 18 additional regular-season games in a phased approach. Playoffs will begin Nov. 20 and the MLS Cup final is Dec. 12.

Inter Miami has not yet decided whether to open its Fort Lauderdale stadium to fans. If it does, fans will be able to purchase tickets on a single-game basis only. Season-ticket holders and 2021 deposit holders will receive priority in advance of any public sale.

Miami remains winless through five games — the first two on the road in early March and three losses in the MLS is Back Tournament. Each loss was by a single goal.

“It is not exactly the home debut we anticipated March 14, but for us in the locker room, the focus is not about whether we play at home or on the road, or in front of fans or not, It’s about getting results,” Inter Miami captain Luis Robles said. “The guys have worked very hard the last couple of weeks to sharpen up, refine our process and stay completely focused on the task at hand. We want to rectify a record that I don’t feel reflects this team. Nonetheless, we are still without a win or a point. I think we will get our first win and go on a roll.”

Midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro said the players feel safe with the protocols in place, and he feels confident the next phase of the season will go well.

“It is the best option to be back home, especially for those with families and kids, to have them close by to share these tough times with,” Pizarro said. “It’s been nice to be training at our home facility, more or less like normal, and we’re looking forward to playing in our stadium for the first time after such a long wait.”

The 2020 season was suspended due to COVID-19 two days before Miami’s scheduled home debut March 14.

MLS commissioner Don Garber addressed tough questions on a video conference with reporters Saturday, and defended the plan to play in home stadiums despite the issues that have arisen in the return of Major League Baseball and the United Soccer League, both of which have had COVID-19 outbreaks and cancellation of games.

Garber said the league learned a lot hosting 51 games in 35 days during the MLS is Back Tournament — “a Herculean task” — and was forced to face challenges and make difficult decisions. After initial COVID scares when several Dallas and Nashville players arrived infected, the rest of the tournament was a success with just two positive tests among 35,000 tests since early-July.

“We understand getting back to play will have some challenges, and we’re prepared for those, we understand it won’t be easy, we know we may have issues that disrupt us, and might even force us to postpone games,” Garber said. “We’re aware of the need to be flexible, and aware we are entering a new normal for our industry that will require us for quite some time to have a very strong plan aligned with local health authorities who can help make sure we have a safe environment.

“We believe we have a good plan, we believe our players and staff will adhere to our protocols, and we believe we can get our games in. If we can’t do that in a way that’s safe, then we’ll have to address it at that time. ... We made the decision to go to Orlando when nobody had any idea if the bubble concept would work. I don’t think life can stop.”

Garber said he doesn’t anticipate a lot of markets allowing fans during the first phase of games, but there are some that will with limited capacity, and the league will consider those proposals. Kansas City hopes to allow 14 percent (about 2,500 fans) in its 18,400-seat stadium, and Dallas has talked about allowing 5,000 fans.

“There are a number of states allowing limited numbers of fans to sports events today and if some clubs are interested in welcoming fans, we will consider it after they submit a plan following guidelines of our doctors and protocols established by states and the CDC,” Garber said. “None of those plans have been approved to date. At the end of the day, our fans want to support our clubs. If they are permitted under the guidelines, we are willing to work with our clubs.”

To make up the three matches missed from the tournament, FC Dallas and Nashville SC will play an additional three matches, against each other, with the first two games on Aug. 12 and 16 and a third game to be scheduled in the fall.

Games will air nationally in the U.S. on ESPN, FOX Sports and Univision platforms, as well as regionally through individual club broadcast partners.