World governments and economies have had enough as they’re slowly opening out their respective lockdowns. Similarly, sporting federations have had enough as countries as slowly easing out the restrictions on sporting competitions as well. It was only last week that the BUndesliga announced the resumption of their first and second division leagues.
Now, the good news comes from England as the world famous English Premier League and other sporting events have got the green light to resume next month, effective 1st June onwards. The UK government released a 60-page document called Our Plan to Rebuild where steps to control the coronavirus have been mentioned, while resuming activities as normal in the country.
If all 5 tests are passed, sports can resume as part of Phase 2 of this plan. The plan permits ‘cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact’. The plans are now rolling out only for England, while local governments can adjust the restrictions at their own rates.
It was a month back that the prestigious Wimbledon Championships was also cancelled, for the first time since the World War II. While other sporting action will resume in England soon, it may be a while before the Premier League begins, as that usually takes place starting August onwards.
The Premier League floated the idea of clubs playing at neutral venues but every franchise ended up being against this idea. However, CEO Richard Masters has said he will continue to try and persuade teams to change their stand on the same. The government and police are both in favour of neutral venue games at the moment.
“We’re working flat out with club and stakeholders – that’s Government, our broadcast partners, the FA, the EFL, the PFA, the LMA – to create a responsible, safe and deliverable model to complete the season. The first tentative step is to return to training on a socially-distanced basis, and we are making some progress on that,” he said.
