Premier League restart meetings set to begin this week

March 9th feels an awful long time ago. Cheltenham Festival had just drawn to a close and Premier League clubs were gearing up for a weekend of footballing action, but the rapidly worsening coronavirus pandemic put a swift stop to those plans.

In the space of a few days the entire UK sporting calendar was decimated, with the vast majority of Europe’s football leagues also calling a stop to proceedings around the same time.

Well over a month has passed since then and this week has seen glimmers of hope emerge from the wreckage. Peaks have been passed and Germany has paved the way for a return of top-level footballing action, setting a rather optimistic date of May 9th for a return of the Bundesliga.

Rumours that the return of French Ligue 1 action could be discussed are also flying around, and now the UK have begun making plans.

Return of sport would be morale boost

The UK government have outlined plans to set up a series of regular meetings related to the return of sporting action, with the first of these expected to take place in the coming week.

These meetings will involve senior medical personnel of major sports, and the move was described as a “quickening of the pace” as the government tries to get sporting action back up and running.

While the logistical issues surrounding the resumption of the Premier League are still a problem, the return of major sport is thought to be a high priority right now as it would provide a very welcome morale boost to the British public.

Logistics still present a problem

While this is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a Premier League return is imminent.

There are many issues surrounding logistics, with the resumption of each sport depending on a variety of important health-based factors. Most crucial would be the availability to increase testing and the maintenance of social distancing rules, both of which present sizeable problems for the Premier League.

Even with matches played behind closed doors social distancing would be difficult to keep tabs on, especially at this stage of the season. Encouraging the public to avoid unnecessary travel would be unlikely to stop thousands of fans celebrating if their team won a league title, for instance.

Then there’s the ongoing issue of testing. Completion of the Premier League season would require tens of thousands of tests and if that hampers the ability to test key workers and NHS staff in any way then a resumption will – rightly so – be deemed irresponsible.

That being said, this is a sliver of silver lining etched around the dark cloud that’s been hanging over everybody’s head for the past six weeks.

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• What football is still on this week?
• UEFA places future of 2019/20 season in Premier League’s hands
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