‘Project Restart’ ramps up as Premier League meets TODAY for crunch talks over finishing season
The Premier League holds a pivotal meeting this morning to decide on the details of ‘Project Restart’, with plans to resume the season to be ironed out before they seek Government approval today.
It is almost two months since the last Premier League match was played – Leicester’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa on March 9 – with the season suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. But its stakeholders are determined for the 2019-20 season to be completed to avoid a legal minefield and lessen football’s financial crisis.
The Government, too, are keen for football to resume to boost national morale, despite announcing the extension of lockdown for the foreseeable future with the UK now having the third-highest Covid-19 death toll of any nation in the world. A firm plan for football’s return could formed on Friday with The Times saying a vote to set it in stone could potentially be held next Thursday, on May 7.
Jamie Vardy (right) celebrates scoring with Leicester team-mate James Maddison in their 4-0 win over Aston Villa on March 9 – the last Premier League match played this season so far
For the past week, the Premier League have been briefing towards a planned restart on the week commencing June 8, with clubs preparing to return to group training on May 18. Clubs have already been advised to recall players who are abroad as they will need to be in quarantine for two weeks before they can join team-mates.
Despite the ever-changing nature of the global crisis, Premier League chiefs will attempt today to rubber-stamp rules and regulations for the resumption of group training and eventually matches played behind closed doors.
The Mirror report that the Premier League are ready to send out a seven-page document to every club on how to return to training during the pandemic, once its contents have been agreed on at today’s meeting.
Guidelines include players wearing a mask or snood at all times and training in groups of no more than five, staff wearing PPE equipment and disinfecting balls, corner flags and goalposts.
Additionally, players will also need to park their cars at least three spaces apart, no massages will be allowed unless approved by a club doctor and drinks must be left at particular pick-up points.
All club staff, including managers and coaches, will also be banned from spitting at the training ground in order to minimise the chance of spreading coronavirus.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters will head Friday’s meeting of club chiefs
The Premier League will present their plan to Government – led by Boris Johnson (pictured)
Another issue for the Premier League to approve at today’s meeting is the controversial use of coronavirus testing kits. Sportsmail revealed this week that players are set to be tested twice a week with around 350 needed a game, meaning 26,000 tests will be needed at a cost of £4million – a bill which the Premier League will foot.
Some medical staff have ethical concerns about using the kits and are also doubtful if the testing system, which will be run by the Premier League, can be set up in time for the proposed return to group training in mid-May.
The Premier League have key issues to discuss about matchdays, none more so than which venues will be used to play matches. The prospect of playing at neutral venues will be advocated at the meeting, most likely in the Midlands, with clubs’ training-ground pitches on the list of possible venues.
Using training grounds would solve the problem of keeping fans from congregating outside stadiums where matches are being played, which is another potential issue to be discussed today. But not all clubs are happy with neutral venues being mooted.
Arsenal’s stars like David Luiz returned to their London Colney training base on Monday
Each player had their own bags of balls and trained on a pitch each to socially distance
Whatever the case, matchdays look set to prove even more of a logistical nightmare for clubs than training, with a minimum of 300 staff needed at a match, even without fans. There has been talk of limiting each club’s matchday contingent to around 35, with many usually having nearer 100 at games.
Once matches kick off, assuming they do, it will be business as usual, though there has been one radical change proposed, which may be discussed today. Some have called for five substitutes to be permitted in each match, with player fitness levels to be lower than usual and lots of games packed into a short space of time.
That idea may be given short shrift, but serious questions need to be answered about what players can do between matches. There has been talk of each team being placed in a hotel-based lockdown away from their families for seven weeks while the season is finished. That would again be a logistical nightmare and is likely to be very unpopular with players.
Any plan to finish the season, with 92 matches still be played, seems an ambitious one right now, but this what the Premier League is faced with, and these are the issues they must discuss today.
And on a wider scale, The Times reported late Thursday that measures are being considered that could mean the whole of the 2021-22 campaign could be played without fans. Mass gatherings may only be deemed safe once a vaccine for coronavirus is found.
Angelo Ogbonna was among the West Ham stars returning to training at their Rush Green base
