Doubts over neutral venues
Brighton and Hove Albion are the first English Premier League club to publicly oppose plans to try to restart the season in neutral stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As the Covid-19 death toll surpassed 28,000 in Britain, Brighton chief executive Paul Barber accepted resuming sporting events would require compromises, but said the league’s integrity would be damaged if teams could not play at home.
West Ham vice-chairwoman Karren Brady said ‘‘no-one wants’’ neutral stadiums, but was not as direct in her opposition to the league’s ‘‘Project Restart’’ plan, given the need for authorities to approve venues.
Brighton and West Ham are in a scrap to avoid relegation with the Seagulls having five of their nine remaining games scheduled to be played at home. Brighton sit 15th in the standings, while West Ham are 16th.
The Premier League sees using up to only half of the 20 stadiums as the most viable way of completing the season, which was suspended almost two months ago.
Supporters are likely to be prevented from attending sporting events for many months in Britain to limit the spread of Covid-19 infections.
The Premier League hopes team training sessions can resume within weeks – after isolated sessions at training grounds started last week at some clubs – but games are not likely to be played for at least another month.
‘‘We must all be prepared to accept some compromises and we fully appreciate why playing behind closed doors is very likely to be a necessary compromise to play our remaining games,’’ Barber said yesterday.
‘‘But, at this critical point in the season, playing matches in neutral venues has, in our view, potential to have a material effect on the integrity of the competition.’’