‘Abandon EPL season’
A leading executive at a relegation-threatened Premier League team has called for the English football season to be abandoned, saying officials were in ‘‘dreamland’’ if they thought play could resume early next month after games were suspended amid the coronavirus outbreak.
‘‘The only fair and reasonable thing to do is declare the whole season null and void,’’ West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady wrote in her column in The Sun.
West Ham are in 16th place in the 20-team division, only out of the relegation zone on points difference with nine rounds remaining. They have played one more game than 19th-place Aston Villa, who are two points behind West Ham.
The Premier League said it hopes to be back up and running, if possible, by the weekend of April 3-4 – meaning two rounds will have been missed – but Brady sees that prospect as unlikely.
‘‘There are, of course, financial implications, wages and transfer debts must be paid and there is lost broadcast revenue, lost matchday income but this pales into insignificance as the health and well-being of everyone must come first,’’ she said.
‘‘The virus has a long way to travel yet.’’
For most people, the new
Fred Ridley said on Saturday that the Masters and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur would be held at a later date, with some predicting that could be in September.
‘‘Considering the latest information and expert analysis, we have decided at this time to postpone the Masters Tournament, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals,’’ Ridley wrote in a statement.
‘‘The health and well-being of
‘‘The only fair and reasonable thing to do is declare the whole season null and void.’’
Karren Brady
‘‘We have to overcome the spread of the infection and want to hold the Olympics and Paralympics as planned.’’
International Olympic Committee
West Ham vice-chair
coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.
Brighton are also fighting relegation from the Premier League but their chief executive had a different view to Brady’s, with Paul Barber saying it was his wish that the season was completed everyone associated with these events and the citizens of the Augusta community led us to this decision. We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the Masters Tournament at some stage.
Barber said it would be ‘‘unjust’’ to deny runaway leaders Liverpool the title – the Reds lead by 25 points with nine games remaining – and for West Bromwich Albion and Leeds, the top two teams in the second-tier League Championship, to miss out on promotion should no more games be possible.
For that reason, Barber proposed the idea of expanding the Premier League to 22 teams next season, which would mean all the current 20 clubs stay in the top tier.
‘‘To bring the top teams up from the Championship would give us a larger league next season,’’ Barber said.
‘‘Perhaps four relegation places next season and two up again [from the Championship] to get the league back to 20 again for the following season has some merit.’’
The virus outbreak has wiped out most of the world’s major sporting events, but some sports were going ahead in Britain yesterday.
Six football games in the fifthtier National League were played and in front of fans, while fixtures in rugby league’s Super League, netball’s Superleague and basketball were taking place.
Horse racing meetings went ahead while badminton’s All England Open continued yesterday.