All of the 20 clubs in the League will meet via video conferencing with the understanding that there is no posiibility or hope that all professional games will be resumed immediately after the current 30 April deadline.
Decisively, at least for now, the restart date will be pushed back on Friday with the date more realistically being shifted back into May. Alternatively, they have the option of following Spain and Francese whose leagues have been shut down indefinitely, whereas in the case of the Italian league, mention has been made of the Serie A returning in late May, even if that does seem optimistic at best.
Uefa, the European football governing body, has issued a joint letter in conjunction with the European Clubs’ Association and the European Leagues urging domestic bodies not to abandon their competitions.
Anticipation is also in the air as there have been talks about a resumption with the prospect of games being played behind closed doors in a limited number of locations, will be discussed. Training grounds have also been mentioned as potential avenues to host games, despite it being difficult to work out how such environments would be safer than stadiums, which are built specifically to host matches that need to be broadcast in order to avoid the £750m repayment to TV companies that would be triggered by a failure to complete the current season.
The fact that such a scenario has even seriously tabled for discussion in no uncertain terms underlines the overwhelming desire among Premier League clubs to complete the season in its entirety, with the primary consideration that nothing will be agreed on that places unnecessary strain of any kind on medical resources at this time of national crisis.
One primary benefit of pushing the date back would be to allow Premier League clubs the chance to offer their stadiums and medical staff to the National Health Service with the advance knowledge of that knowing they would not be required for football purposes in the short term.
This move would also serve the purpose of at least correcting negative perceptions, not to mention some negative publicity, that have since arisen accompanying news that four clubs, including Tottenham, are even now already using the government’s furlough scheme to compensate laid-off workers by up to £2,500-a-month. This has understandably more than ruffled feathers in some quarters of the public and even ex players in the League as it is common knowledge that despite numerous players, including manager Jose Mourinho, earning weekly in excess of £100,000, are still remaining on full pay.
Attempts to explain and account for the undue delay in players accepting pay cuts or wage deferrals, regardless of the reasons, have met with firm resistance from many in the general public and even from some politicians who have made their displeasure clear.
Being among the first to be examples of civic-mindedness and caring for others in less favorable circumstance, Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe and Brighton counterpart Graham Potter have both personally opted to accept significant cuts without waiting for any central directive from the LMA. This does indeed warm the heart to know that indeed there are those who are not recalcitrant and uncaring for the plight of their fellow men.
Talks are still ongoing between the Premier League, Football League and both the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and League Managers’ Association (LMA) with clubs on standby waiting to be updated on this at Friday’s meeting.