Premier League discusses resuming season behind closed doors
Premier League clubs have discussed “the first tentative moves forward” in plans to resume the 2019-20 season, reports BBC Sport.
Clubs reiterated a commitment to resuming the season “when safe and appropriate to do so” during a video conference on Friday.
The conference followed a separate meeting, hosted by culture secretary Oliver Dowden, involving medical experts from several sports organisations, government and Public Health England, about “stepping up planning” for sport’s eventual return.
Dowden introduced the meeting and said elite sport would return behind closed doors “when, and only when, it is safe to do so on the basis of expert medical advice”.
The Premier League said in a statement it would “only return to training and playing with government guidance”.
“No decisions were taken at today’s meeting and clubs exchanged views on the information provided regarding ‘Project Restart’,” the statement added.
“It was agreed that the Professional Footballers’ Association, the League Managers’ Association, players and managers are key to this process and will be further consulted.
“The clubs reconfirmed their commitment to finishing the 2019-20 season, maintaining integrity of the competition and welcomed the government’s support.”
The Premier League has been suspended since 13 March because of coronavirus but all clubs remain committed to playing this season’s 92 remaining fixtures.
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All games are expected to be held behind closed doors and the league is considering making some available on free-to-air TV.