Page 36 English Premier League Clubs may REFUSE to resume season, when the coronavirus crisis calms, due to fears over Players’ health and integrity of competition, and there is now doubt over future of Football stars out of contract this summer, according to a Daily Mail Sport report.
All of English professional football have been shut down until April 3, on Friday, following talks between the Premier League, FA, and EFL, but it has now been revealed that there is little expectation among the Clubs, of a resumption being possible in three weeks time.
Executives at several Premier League Clubs have flagged a number of issues, which they say may be enough to prevent football from returning next month, even if public events remain permitted by the government. Their concerns include:
“The risk of more Players contracting coronavirus during the shutdown, given that personnel at seven Clubs have already been infected – Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City, Bournemouth, Manchester City, West Ham, Brighton, and Everton. The need to protect the integrity of the competition by ensuring that all Clubs return to action at the same time, which will be impossible, if there are more positive tests over the next three weeks.The fact that there are 69 Premier League Players out of contract on June 30, which raises further issues over sporting integrity, if they have signed deals to move to other Clubs.”
With tens of millions of pounds at stake in the battles to avoid relegation and to secure Champions League qualification, Clubs are adamant that they will oppose any revised schedule they feel give rivals an advantage, with those in the bottom six particularly sensitive to the timing of any resumption.
The Premier League Clubs are due to reconvene for talks next week, after UEFA’s meeting on Tuesday, when they are expected to take the dramatic step of postponing the European Championship until 2021, which would give domestic Leagues valuable time to complete fixture programmes this summer.
