LONDON: No professional sport, even behind closed doors, will be staged in England until 1 June at the earliest, the UK government has announced.
The British government published a 50-page guidance document detailing how England will begin to ease lockdown measures.
Step two of that plan - which will not be allowed to start before 1 June - includes "permitting cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact".
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said being able to hold sporting events behind closed doors could "provide a much-needed boost to national morale".
To aid planning, the government's current aim is that the second step will be "made no earlier than Monday 1 June, subject to these conditions being satisfied. Until that time the restrictions currently in place around the activities below will continue".
The document states that reopening venues that attract large crowds, such as sports grounds, "may only be fully possible significantly later depending on the reduction in numbers of infections".
The new document has been titled 'Our Plan to Rebuild: The UK Government's Covid-19 Recovery Strategy', and the lifting of restrictions is conditional upon the continued adherence to protocols which have been put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Premier League's options
The English Premier League clubs are reportedly contemplating to curtail the season even though the government gave the competition a green light to resume the 2019-20 season in June.
According to a report in England's Mirror, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said that the representatives of all the 20 clubs sounded determined to finish the season but admitted for the first time that it would not be possible to play out all the remaining 92 matches.
“It was the first time we discussed curtailment – it’s still our aim to finish the season obviously but it’s important to discuss all the options with our clubs,” Masters was quoted as saying by Mirror.
“Obviously we reflected on Boris’ statement last night and the fuller statement that came out right at the end of the meeting and what that means for us.
“I’m happy to reveal it was discussed for the first time but the contents of that discussion have to remain confidential. What I can say is that all of the talk was about finishing the season. No conclusions were reached on any other models.
“Those are future conversations we may need to have. There was a desire to see all the different implications, the adaptions, if you like, to the Premier League model as we know in order to play out the season and then discuss what the fairest way forward is,” the chief executive added.
Also, in the meeting, the club officials on Monday discussed about the possible resumption of group training safely and on how the clubs would deal with a COVID-19 positive case. The discussion happened after three Brighton players were tested positive last week.
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