The Premer League clubs have not agreed on the idea to play the remaining 92 fixtures in the 2019-2020 season in neutral venues. The clubs could not reach an agreement at the general meeting held on Monday via video conference.
Recall that on Sunday, May 10, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson gave the go-ahead for the Premier League and other top English sporting events to resume behind closed doors from June 1. He also recommended that the events should take place without spectators until the world has an acceptable vaccine to cure coronavirus.
On Monday, when the club owners met, they agreed that the season would not be abandoned and relegation of clubs will be involved as usual. They also projected that training in groups will commence on May 18 under strict protocol. At the end of the meeting, they agreed to meet with the players and the coaches in the league before they can reach a conclusion of all the issues raised.
Besides that, it seems that most of the clubs, if not all, would prefer to play in the usual home and away format instead of playing in neutral venues as it is being proposed. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has asserted that the will of all the clubs is to play using the home and away format.
“Everybody would prefer to play home and away if at all possible,” Masters said.
“It’s clear to see that some clubs feel more strongly about that than others. It is an ongoing dialogue and we’ve been talking to the authorities about the conditions in which we could get the Premier League back up and running and taking all that advice on board.
“We are working flat out to create a responsible, safe, and deliverable model to complete the season.
“No decisions will be made until after we have talked to players and managers and those meetings are scheduled for later this week.”
Contracts Extension in the Premier League
Meanwhile, the clubs in the Premier League have agreed to extend the contract of the players whose contracts will expire in June. However, the players have the right to accept the extension or reject it.
Also, the Premier League has opened the window for players on loan to extend their stay. But before that can be done, there has to be an agreement between the three parties involved – the player, the player’s parent club, and the club he is on loan at.
The Premier League football season could resume from June 12 but there must be a guaranty that clubs have the capacity to test their players for coronavirus regularly. And the Premier League has to have drafted a clear plan on how the season can be completed logically. All these and more are what the clubs are expected to discuss and decide on when they meet again in the coming days.
