English Premier League has made the first step in the attempt to resume the 2019/20 season. The league officially confirmed on Monday that the clubs received a green light to return to training.
The decision is a result of a conference call between league officials, club representatives, and medical experts in which they laid out a plan for players to start training again.
According to the plan, the training will be limited to small groups, and the players will have to respect the social distancing rule. Also, there will be no contact training at this stage.
“This first stage has been agreed in consultation with players, managers, Premier League club doctors, independent experts and the Government,” said the Premier League officials in a statement. “Strict medical protocols of the highest standard will ensure everyone returns to training in the safest environment possible.”
The exact return of Premier League soccer is still to be determined, although the league and clubs hope to have first games on June 12th. However, this will mostly depend on the health situation and the fitness of the players.
“We haven’t changed the start date; we have to be flexible about it,” said Premier League chief executive Richard Masters. “What we don’t want to do is continually to move that start date. So, we haven’t changed it but we need to be flexible and acknowledge we’re in a step-by-step process.”
The return of Premier League clubs to training follows the German Bundesliga’s decision to resume its competition last weekend. Bundesliga became the first major soccer league to continue the 2019/20 season after suspension due to coronavirus pandemic. Similar decisions are expected by Italian Seria A and Spanish La Liga.
