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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears to have slowed the rapid return of professional sport after revealing that the coronavirus transmission rate is still too high to significantly ease the blockage.
The sport in Britain has been stagnant for several weeks, but Premier League clubs are expected to vote on Project Restart’s plans to complete the season in neutral locations at a decisive meeting on Monday.
However, Johnson noted that while the general population will be able to exercise outdoors more than once a day and play sports starting Wednesday, they should do so only with those in their own homes.
“We want to encourage more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise,” Johnson said in his televised address Sunday night to the nation.
“You can sit in the sun at your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own homes.”
The message seems to rule out the possibility of soccer clubs re-training soon and does not improve the prospects of ending the seasons that were halted by the public health crisis.
Soccer continues to grapple with the potential challenges of a return to action, with a third Brighton player and five LaLiga players testing positive for the virus.
Brighton CEO Paul Barber said the unidentified player will be isolated for 14 days. The PA news agency understands that the rest of the team will continue to train both at home and in individual sessions on the club’s training ground.
Two other players, whose names have also not been released by the club, contracted the virus earlier in the pandemic. It is understood that they have recovered since then, but it is unclear whether or not they have returned to training yet.
Barber said on Sky Sports News: “Unfortunately, yesterday we had a positive test for a third player.”
“Despite all the steps we’ve all been taking in the past few weeks, when players haven’t participated in any meaningful training, we’ve still suffered from another player testing positive for the virus.”
“There are concerns and I think it is normal for all clubs to have those concerns. We want to make sure we do everything possible to ensure that the protocols that are implemented are safe and mitigate risk.”
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