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The Premier League faces a week of chaos after the prime minister dashed hopes that the government would restart the Restart Project.
A week ago, green light expectations had been high after positive noises from high-level politicians about the return of the sport. But as the league convenes another extraordinary meeting of its 20 clubs on Monday morning, it is no closer to receiving authorization to resume play.
Addressing the nation on Sunday night, Boris Johnson made no mention of professional sports or its resumption. This despite comments from Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden two weeks ago that the Premier League should return “as soon as possible,” a comment that had raised officials’ hopes.
The league has always insisted that it would be led by the government on any resumption. It is understood that the government’s guidance on the return of professional sport, from a working group led by the UK’s executive director of sport, Sally Munday, is still being written.
A virtual meeting with the clubs was scheduled for last Friday, the day after the government was expected to review the closure restrictions. When the prime minister confirmed an address for Sunday, the Premier League agreed to meet on Monday.
The meeting will take place without a new information bar, a general instruction from the prime minister that people should “work from home if they can … but must go to work if they cannot work from home.” The only mention of the word sport came with reference to playing outside with “members of their own home.”
Dowden later tweeted: “In less risky outdoor settings, we can imminently allow some sporting activities like golf, basketball, tennis, fishing, solo / home,” adding “guidance to follow.”
Monday’s meeting will bring clubs more and more into disagreement over various issues. The first concern remains the safety of the players, staff, and all those associated with plans to play the remaining 92 games of the 2019-20 season.
The league’s medical protocol remains unfinished, but a draft is expected to be submitted to the clubs for their consideration before further discussions with the Association of League Managers and the Association of Professional Footballers later in the day.
The plans are likely to come under more intense scrutiny after Brighton, one of the most outspoken clubs against the proposed return, revealed that a third member of its squad had tested positive for Covid-19. The news came as there were also positive tests between players in Germany and Spain, leagues that are more on the way to the restart.
If medical protocol is agreed, it will likely be voted on later in the week, and the schedule assigned to restart the project will require a return to group training by May 18.
It’s not the only issue that is expected to spark fierce debate, with player contracts and the use of neutral venues that will also become the center of attention in what is expected to be a long meeting.
