Premier League is set to make a comeback from June 17 after the UK government has given a green light to sporting events being conducted behind closed doors.
The official statement from the Premier League said: “Premier League Shareholders on Thursday 28 May agreed to a new provisional restart date for the 2019/20 season of Wednesday 17 June, provided that all safety requirements are in place.
“Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal postponed due to the Carabao Cup final, will now take place on 17 June, followed by a full match round beginning on Friday 19 June.
“Due to COVID-19, matches will take place behind closed doors.”
The clubs have already moved onto Stage Two training having begun their initial sessions from May 19. And all this while, the authorities have been continuously testing the staff and the players from all the 20 clubs.
Last week, the EPL carried out the fourth round of testing and thankfully there have been zero positive results.
The statement claimed: “The Premier League can today confirm that on Thursday 28 May and Friday 29 May 1130 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19. Of these, zero have tested positive.
“The Premier League is providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency. No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the League and results will be made public after each round of testing.”
How many Premier League players have tested positive so far?
Round 1: 17-18 May – 748 tested, with six testing positive from three clubs.
Round 2: 19-22 May – 996 tested, with two testing positive from two clubs.
Round 3: 25-26 May – 1,008 tested, with four testing positive from two clubs.
Round 4: 28-29 May – 1130 tested, with zero testing positive.
This is great news for the footballing community and especially for players like Troy Deeney and N’Golo Kante who have raised concerns over the safety of the players and the staff due to such a hasty restart.
