Covid-19: Premier League clubs to pay £5,000 fine for shirt swap

Premier League clubs are being hit with a £5,000 fine every time a player swaps shirts after a game, with one side already penalised twice.

Fines have been issued after players were found by their Premier League-appointed Covid compliance officer to have shown ‘ill-discipline regarding protocols’.

Clubs can choose to pay the fine or pass it on to players. The club which was fined twice ordered the two players who committed the breach to stump up. The opposing clubs are also thought to have been fined for their players’ part in the shirt-swaps

Sportsmail knows the name of the club, who do not want to be identified.

The club in question were surprised to hear of the fine from the Premier League, rather than direct from the Covid officer who monitors players’ conduct at all training sessions and matches.

There is tension within certain clubs about the presence of this new cadre of officers, with some feeling that they are ‘hovering’.

The 20 club; s-specific officers, who work on behalf of the Premier League but are not on staff, are also being asked to check that players socially distance when eating in the canteen and do not park cars too closely together.

The tougher new Premier League rules were communicated by letter to all clubs on January 7, when players were routinely hugging on the pitch despite infection rates soaring in the country and within the game.