If the government in the United Kingdom and health authorities give the Premier League the go-ahead to resume, matches will be staged at neutral venues.
Recall that the English Premier League like other major leagues in Europe were halted in March in order to minimize the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and to obey the lockdown order of the government.
Since then, the Premier League and the clubs have been holding a series of meetings to see how the season could resume in order to bring it to a logical conclusion.
A few weeks ago, UEFA urged domestic leagues in Europe not to abandon the 2019-2020 season, and to award domestic titles by merit. Though some leagues like the French Ligue 1 and the Belgian league have gone against UEFA guidelines, Premier League is determined to restart the season as soon as possible.
All the Premier League stakeholders have been operating under the theme ‘Project Restart’, and it is now becoming obvious that the most tenable option left for them is to host the remaining 92 fixtures in neutral venues.
This means that Liverpool football club which has been topping the league table with 25 points could lift the Premier League title outside Anfield and without supporters on the stands.
This also means that the remaining games will not only be played behind-closed-doors as it is being speculated but will be played miles away from clubs’ natural home grounds.
For instance, a match involving Chelsea and Tottenham could be taken to Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium instead of Stanford Bridge or Tottenham stadium in London.
Premier League 2019-2020 Season to be completed with 10 Stadia
But according to a meeting the 20 clubs in the Premier League and the league management board held on Friday, April 30th, 2020, via a video conference, venues of the remaining games would be selected based on how low the COVID-19 cases are in the area where the stadium is located.
The league stakeholders have reportedly proposed that 10 stadia including Wembley Stadium would be used to execute the remaining 92 fixtures.
They have also proposed that the season should restate in June but they are yet to agree on an exact date. They are yet to also agree on how clubs will be promoted and be relegated.
Meanwhile, a similar meeting where some of the proposals will be subjected to voting is expected to come up on May 8 with the hope that the UK government would have relaxed the lockdown in the country before then. However, whatever they decide on, will be subjected to the government’s approval.
