Brighton chief against neutral venues

LONDON • Brighton chief executive Paul Barber fears that plans to complete the English Premier League season at neutral venues could have a "material effect on the integrity of the competition".

As the competition wrestles with how to finish the campaign that still has 92 games to play, the idea of using up to 10 neutral venues for closed-door games is seen as the only means to guarantee safety.

While Barber has admitted that there has to be some give-and-take - like the barring of fans - to work around the coronavirus pandemic, he questioned the impartiality of neutral stadiums.

He told the club website: "Clearly, we must all be prepared to accept some compromises.

"We fully appreciate why playing behind closed doors is very likely to be a necessary compromise to play our remaining games, while continuing to fully support the government's efforts to contain the spread of (the) coronavirus.

"But at this critical point in the season, playing matches in neutral venues has, in our view, (the) potential to have a material effect on the integrity of the competition."

With Brighton due to be at home for five of their remaining nine games, Barber has every reason to worry the loss of that advantage could tip the balance in favour of the other teams in the relegation dogfight, especially with the Seagulls just two points in front of 18th-placed Bournemouth (27).

"The disadvantages of us not playing the league's top teams in our home stadium and in familiar surroundings, even with 27,000 Albion fans very unlikely to be present at the Amex, are very obvious," he said. "The fixture list simply isn't equally balanced at this stage of the season, and we didn't play our first 29 matches of the season in this way."

It has been reported that the Premier League is looking at using eight to 10 stadiums, with venues likely to be chosen for ease of ensuring social distancing.

Besides having games in empty stadiums and finding appropriate venues to pull the proposal off, the top flight must also overcome another major hurdle that stands in the way of its restart.

Mass Covid-19 testing of players, staff and other vested parties has to be regularly conducted to ensure the safety of all involved.

Given the sheer scale of people involved in day-to-day activities at a club, excluding those who are needed on a match day itself, such as police, ambulance personnel and media, it has been estimated that the number of tests could run into the tens of thousands.

While The Guardian has reported that the Premier League is looking to invest in Covid-19 testing machines, it can test only seven people per day, which means the burden and bulk would fall on the already stretched National Health Service.

That proposition "would not sit well" with Chelsea manager Frank Lampard. "The other issue is testing," he told BT Sport. "We have a minimum of 70 or 80 staff at Cobham (Chelsea's training ground) if we're going to restart training.

"It's right that we test regularly, but when we're looking around the world… it's important for football to take its place.

"I don't think it would sit well, not just with me, but with anybody, if we didn't make sure that people who are in that front line are getting (priority) tested."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE