Premier League English

What happened at Monday’s latest Premier League meeting?

The league’s 20 clubs met via video conferencing on Monday after the government confirmed that the intention is for Premier League football to be allowed to kick off again ASAP in June, unless the virus situation dictates otherwise.

BBC Sport have reported that: “The Premier League says it has listened to the objections of some clubs to the use of neutral grounds if the season resumes and will support them in putting those views to the authorities.”

The Premier League say that the government are open to the possibility if clubs can show they can safely put on matches home and away, particularly in terms of easing fears of large numbers of fans turning up outside grounds when games are played.

Many aspects of how the Premier League will approach attempts to complete the season will surely in large part be contingent on what happens in the Bundesliga as a guideline as the German league are set to kick offplay from this weekend and at the usual stadiums, home and away.

The Premier League’s CEO Richard Masters is saying that there is a ‘strong desire to discuss everything in the round and to agree a collective way forward’, as well as there being a ‘really strong collective will to complete the season remains’, despite admitting that for the first time the 20 PL clubs had discussed amongst the range of possibilities what would be done if it proved impossible to complete the remaining 2019/20 fixtures.

“Everybody would prefer to play at home and away if at all possible, and it’s clear to see some clubs feel more strongly about that than others.

“We are in contact with the authorities and listening to that advice, while also representing club views in those discussions.

“Since Covid became an issue we’ve been talking to the authorities about the conditions in which we could get the Premier League back up and running and taking all that advice on board, but it is an ongoing dialogue.

“But all must be cognisant of what authorities are telling us, and we’ll continue with that consultation.”

A contingency plan is also being discussed if the 2019/20 season can’t be completed:

“It’s the first time we’ve discussed curtailment.

“It’s still our aim to finish the season obviously but it’s important to discuss all of the options with our clubs.”

“Obviously we won’t be playing until the middle of June.

It doesn’t seem quite right to be talking about playing before we’ve taken a decision to return to the first stage of training.

“But in terms of how those matches will take place there’s a lot of water to pass under the bridge, and we’ll continue to assess the circumstances then.”

On players set to be out of contract on 30 June 2020 being able to extend contracts:

“What was agreed today was that players can extend their contracts beyond 30 June, until the end of the season.

“It must be agreed by both parties and a later date can be scheduled for that, no later than 23 June so that date was pushed back a little to help with that situation.”