LONDON • The Premier League is eyeing a resumption of the season on June 8, behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the end date falling on July 27, according to the Times of London.
The daily yesterday said English football chiefs, along with other sports governing bodies, have been holding talks with the British government on when they can restart.
The season was suspended on March 13, with Liverpool just two wins away from their first English title in 30 years. The top flight has 92 games remaining, with clubs having nine or 10 games left each.
Premier League bosses are said to have shared the "Project Restart" idea with shareholders last week.
Matches are to be played in empty stadiums - a maximum of 400 people will be permitted to attend including media, only after testing negative for Covid-19 - and they will be staged at selected stadia to minimise overloading of the already stretched medical services.
Extra changing facilities will be introduced to ensure safe distancing measures are in place. Players will be required to turn up for training individually, dressed in their kit.
Should the plan proceed without hiccups, the summer break - traditionally around three months - will be a shortened affair as Aug 22 has been suggested as the date for the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
The main sticking point, though, remains the lack of tests available.
The Sun newspaper, citing government sources, also said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been briefed on plans for the return of football. But the country must first pass the five tests for easing restrictions before sports can be played behind closed doors. It is to be one topic up for discussion ahead of the next review on May 7.
Should the EPL season be unable to resume - the Dutch Eredivisie was abandoned without promotion or relegation on Friday - it would be a financial nightmare for clubs.
Measures being taken to alleviate the cash-flow crunch brought about by the crisis have seen the Premier League link up with DLA Piper - a law firm that has advised on TV rights deals for the league in the past - on an emergency loan fund with a maximum of £10 million (S$17.6 million) per club.
The lack of liquidity has also led Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to predict that Premier League clubs will not be splurging "hundreds of millions" on new players when the transfer window opens in the summer.
They have led the way in terms of spending across European football's "Big Five" leagues, including Spain, Italy, Germany and France, for three years in a row, according to Deloitte's Sports Business Group.
But that looks set to change, with Woodward admitting teams were facing a challenging time in the market and it is unlikely to be "business as usual" even for a club like United - the richest English side and third on the Deloitte Money League after Barcelona and Real Madrid.
He told a United fans forum on Friday night: "We need visibility of the impact across the whole industry, including timings of the transfer window and the wider financial picture, before we can talk about a return to normality.
"On this basis, I cannot help feeling speculation around transfers of individual players for hundreds of millions of pounds this summer seems to ignore the realities facing the sport."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
