Lacazette, Luiz, Xhaka keep safe distance during training
Arsenal reopened their London Colney training ground to first-team players for individual training on Monday as the Premier League club continued to observe social distancing protocols amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
France striker Alexandre Lacazette, Brazil defender David Luiz and Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka were seen arriving at the facility, 32km north of London.
The Arsenal players trained separately while keeping their distance from each other on the pitch.
Besides Arsenal, West Ham and Brighton also opened their training grounds to players on Monday.
Brighton said in a statement on Monday that the club were allowing “restricted external access to the training pitches for first-team players only, for non-compulsory individual training”.
“Players will need to book and be allotted staggered arrival slots, allocated their own area to train and expected to fully adhere to social distancing rules while doing so,” the statement added.
A West Ham spokesman said players in apartments or without safe access to green spaces were permitted access to training pitches. “Access will be limited to one player at a ,” he said.
Soccer in England has been suspended indefinitely and no clubs have been in training since Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta was diagnosed with coronavirus on March 12. It was unclear whether Arteta was present
at practice on Monday.
The Premier League is suspended until at least April 30 while lockdown measures are in place in the UK until May 7, when the government is set to review the current restrictions in place.
Clubs expect to return to full training next month while British media reports said the league is looking at a potential restart in June with an eye on finishing the remaining nine rounds of fixtures in July, albeit without spectators.
According to Sky Sports, digital, culture, media and sport secretary Oliver Dowden said in the House of Commons: “I personally have been in talks with the Premier League, with a view to getting football up and running as soon as possible in order to support the whole football community.”
The Premier League, along with other sports, will have to meet specific criteria before a return, including testing arrangements for participants, paid for by sporting authorities or clubs, and ensuring measures are in place to avoid fans gathering outside matches. It is yet to be decided whether games will resume at approved stadiums, or at a neutral venue such as St George’s Park, the national football centre located at Staffordshire, 200km from London.
Players are worried over-delivering top performances. Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Diogo Jota has said a lack of game time will make it “impossible” for players to quickly reach peak condition once the
campaign resumes.
“When it starts, it’ll be like a pre-season for the players,” Jota told BBC.
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All 20 Premier League teams will discuss the situation on Friday.