Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Germans can do it, so can we
their success. I think seeing the quality of football and observing the package from behind closed doors, and how it was broadcast, was really helpful for the Premier League and our other European colleagues.
“It does add confidence that it can be achievable in this country.”
Players will be given the green light to return to training from 2pm today as the first batch of coronavirus tests come through, with the Premier League pledging to announce publicly the number of positive results.
They are also going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that clubs observe strict training protocols, which include a maximum of 75-minute sessions in the first phase.
Inspectors using GPS technology will enforce the rules. Premier League director of football Richard Garlick said: “We can request information from videoing of the sessions and GPS data too.
“We are also looking at bringing in our own independent audit inspection team that we’ll scale up over the next few days which will give us the ability to have inspections at training grounds on a no-notice basis.”
The Premier League will hold two meetings next week, the first on Tuesday when the second phase of training may get the green light, and the second next Thursday, when they could take a vote about a potential return to games.
June 12 is still the starting point but that is likely to be pushed back, at least by another week
Masters also revealed that a working party has been set up to look at ways of improving the atmosphere at behindclosed-doors matches.
He said “The big issue is that, if there aren’t fans in the stadium, what is the experience like for the viewer at home?
“How different is it to a normal Premier League production? Those are the questions we’re seeking to answer.”