Coronavirus Outbreak: Premier League confident about June restart, says chief executive Richard Masters

The Premier League has been suspended since 13 March amid the COVID-19 crisis and 12 June has been identified as a possible date to restart. Players returned to training in small groups this week.

Reuters May 23, 2020 09:31:11 IST
Coronavirus Outbreak: Premier League confident about June restart, says chief executive Richard Masters

The Premier League is “as confident as we can be” about England’s top-flight football league restarting in June, its chief executive Richard Masters was quoted as saying by the BBC on Friday.

Coronavirus Outbreak Premier League confident about June restart says chief executive Richard Masters

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson in training at Melwood. Image:Twitter/JHenderson

The Premier League has been suspended since 13 March amid the COVID-19 crisis and 12 June has been identified as a possible date to restart. Players returned to training in small groups this week.

Among the top European leagues only the Bundesliga has resumed.

“We’ve taken the first step,” Masters told BBC Sport.

“It’s great for everybody, including the fans, to see our players back on the training ground.”

Masters said that the Premier League remains flexible on the date of resumption, contingency plans were needed and “curtailment” was still an option.

“We wouldn’t have taken the first step to get back to training if we weren’t convinced we had created a very safe environment for our players,” he said.

“It is the first step and we have to be sure when we go to contact training we have completed those processes.

“We have done everything we possibly can to make return to training as safe as possible,” he added.

“We think it is safe to return. We have to respect players’ decisions not to return to training. I would be comfortable to return to training.”

Liverpool are top of the table with a 25-point lead over Manchester City.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said on Wednesday that the return of contact training in elite sports could get government approval “later this week”.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

Updated Date:

also read

End of Work from Home? Are TCS employees being forced to come to office?
Explainers

End of Work from Home? Are TCS employees being forced to come to office?

TCS has begun delivering notes to staff members who don't put in at least 12 days of in-office work each month. The IT company reportedly threatened employees with disciplinary action if they failed to abide by its new policy. The firm is just one of the many that has put an end to work from home

Explained: How the World Health Organisation aims to fight pandemics in the future
Explainers

Explained: How the World Health Organisation aims to fight pandemics in the future

Negotiations on new rules for dealing with pandemics are underway at the World Health Organisation. A new pact is a priority for WHO chief who called it a ‘generational commitment that we will not go back to the old cycle of panic and neglect’ at the UN agency's annual assembly

US Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit on Title 42 border expulsions
World

US Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit on Title 42 border expulsions

Title 42, a provision connected to a public health emergency, was adopted by Trump's government in March 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic