The Premier League restart has been scheduled for June 17 with two matches, as various reports circulating in the British media.
Earlier this week, the Premier League had given the green light to the teams to move onto Phase Two of training which involves physical contact and many felt this was a significant step towards the resumption of the 2019-20 season.
“Close contact training is required to replicate match formations and conditions so that the sport-specific demands can be placed on the body, mind and senses,” explained a statement on the government’s official website, as reported.
“Close contact training develops the sport-specific fitness which is an essential element for player safety and a reduced risk of injury during competition.
“It is anticipated that engaging in this type of training would start with smaller ‘clusters’ of two-three athletes and eventually progress to larger groups of four-12 athletes, and ultimately full team training, without social distancing possible at all times.”
And now in Thursday’s meeting all the clubs have decided that the Premier League will resume on June 17 with two matches: 1) Manchester City vs Arsenal; 2) Aston Villa vs Sheffield United.
ESPN claims: “The Premier League is set to resume on June 17 after the clubs gave “Project Restart” the green light at a shareholders meeting on Thursday.
“Sources have told ESPN that Manchester City vs. Arsenal and Aston Villa at home to Sheffield United will be the first fixtures, taking all teams to 29 matches played.
“The remaining 90 games will then continue from the following weekend with a match likely to be moved for television on Friday, June 17, preceding a full programme.”
The report also claims that the EPL authorities are planning to wrap up all the remaining 92 matches by August 1 so that the other competitions like the FA Cup and the European tournaments have plenty of time wrap up their own fixtures.
The authorities have also made it clear that rampant testing will be followed at every step and so far 12 people have tested positive after 2,752 tests across the league.
