More issues could delay restart until June 26
‘PLYERS WILL TAKE THEIR FIRST COVID-19 TEST THIS TUESDAY’
PREMIER LEAGUE clubs return to group training this week, but the actual restart to the season could be as late as June 26 as medics and coaches debate how long they need to get players match fit.
Clubs are still hopeful they will, at least, hit June 19 for a restart date with Premier League sides due to meet tomorrow for the latest Project Restart update, as the prospect of a June 12 restart recedes.
Tomorrow’s meeting will vote on the latest group-training protocols, which are expected to be agreed with clubs returning to training on Tuesday or Wednesday.
At present most clubs have individual players at their training grounds, but from Tuesday they will be able to work in groups of three or four — as long as they have passed a coronavirus test and they keep two metres apart. As such, they can do ball work which involves shooting drills or passing, but they can’t do contact work.
There will be another meeting of clubs later this week, which is likely to approve the next stage of group training, which would move to larger groups of players but still maintaining social distance. It is expected that full contact training will not resume until June 1.
Coaches and physiologists insist that players will need at least three weeks of full contact training to restart, meaning that the June 12 date looks increasingly unobtainable. Some argue that four weeks would be preferable, which would push the start back to June 26.
To resume contact training all players will have had to have passed two coronavirus tests. Premier League players are in the process of taking their first test before Tuesday and will undergo another this week.
Initially, tests administered by Prenetics — a genetics and digital health firm based in Hong Kong — will take 48 hours for a result, but it is expected that they will be turned around within 24 hours.
Tomorrow’s meeting is expected to be more low key than previously highly-charged summits. The issue of how to curtail the league if Project Restart fails is on the agenda — however, it is unlikely to be discussed.
It is understood that there is no need to debate or vote on such a contentious issue when it isn’t needed at this point and may never be required.
New Premier League chairman Gary Hoffman will attend the meeting. He was due to join the Premier League in June but secured an earlier release from Hastings Group, given the crisis.
Many players remain unsure about returning. One Zoom call hosted by a Premier League manager with his squad this week saw strong opinions offered against coming back, but most players accepted that it was inevitable the season would restart, unless circumstances change dramatically.
Protocols on contact training and a return to play have been developed but will not be discussed or voted on yet. The intention is to wait until each team is comfortable with group training before moving to the next stage.