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The Premier League authorities are planning to resume the 2019-20 season on June 12 but it seems like this possible date could be pushed further back.

This week, all the teams have just started phase 1 of their training and speaking to the BBC, Premier League CEO Richard Masters has revealed that the Premier League’s resumption date is not etched in stone.

“There is some momentum. We’ve taken the first step,” Masters told BBC Sport while admitting that the Premier League start remains flexible. “We wouldn’t have taken the first step to get back to training if we weren’t convinced we had created a very safe environment for our players.

It is the first step and we have to be sure when we go to contact training we have completed those processes.

“We ran a very thorough consultation with club doctors. We have done everything we possibly can to make return to training as safe as possible.

“We think it is safe to return. We have to respect players’ decisions not to return to training. I would be comfortable to return to training.”

Apart from this Masters also admitted that playing the games in neutral venues is something the authorities are not too keen on, at this point in time.

“We’re talking to the authorities about that(playing home & away matches),” he added.

“I do believe we can appeal to fans not to congregate outside football grounds or go to other people’s houses to watch football matches in contravention of government guidelines.”

Should the Premier League return be delayed?

Recently, Steve Bruce had urged the Premier League to reconsider their decision of resuming the league on June 12 since he claimed that the players would need more time to get back to full fitness.

“We’ve listened to what has been said and, with the precautions taken, we will get back to work and start phase one,” Bruce said in the Sunday Telegraph, as reported. “Can we get to that stage where we can have all the players on the pitch together? We don’t know yet.

“Phase one will be mainly fitness work, four or five players on a pitch. Let’s see how we get on. You have to remember that they have had eight weeks off and that is probably the longest break some of these players have had in their careers.

“Most of the managers have the same concerns. We would need at least six weeks. I don’t see how we can play games until the back end of June.” 

Bruce is not the only person who is opposing such an early resumption since players like N’Golo Kante and Troy Deeney have already refused to train and fans fears there will be others who will walk in this same direction.

And if this situation does bubble up then the EPL will have no other option but to delay the restart by a few weeks.

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