BID TO SAVE CLUBS
Premier League to return after 100 days of waiting
A GROUP of MPS have warned the English Football League that it might have just weeks left to save itself from financial ruin.
Around 18 politicians have called for urgent talks with the FA and EFL, whose chairman Rick Parry warned last month that clubs face a financial black hole of £200m.
A host of clubs are facing administration or bankruptcy and MP Damian Collins has now written to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, as well as Parry and FA chairman Greg Clarke, insisting “we may only have a few weeks to save football as we know it”.
Collins wants to see a Football Finance Authority created to help clubs meet shortterm needs. Money would not be loaned but exchanged for a minority shareholding.
In turn, an FFA approved director would take a place on a club’s board. Collins would then like to see a Supporters’ Trust have the chance to buy out the Government stake.
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PUT the date in your diary – Premier League football will be back on June 17.
The provisional restart date for the topflight season was agreed during a lengthy video conference call between Premier League bosses and all 20 clubs yesterday.
In a huge boost to football fans, the campaign will begin again behind closed doors, with those teams with games in hand being told to play first.
This would see Aston Villa host Sheffield United and Arsenal visit Manchester City.
From there, all 20 clubs would have nine games left to play and full fixture lists would take place from the following weekend onwards in the hope of completing the season by August 1.
Players will have had three weeks to train and prepare for competitive games.
Up to 12 of the remaining games, including all derbies, have been identified as ‘high profile’ and will be staged at neutral venues on police advice.
Football was suspended in March due to Covid-19 but clubs have remained determined to get the campaign completed as soon as possible, leaving August free to stage the FA Cup Final and remaining games in the Champions League and Europa League.
All 92 remaining domestic matches will be broadcast live in the UK by the league’s existing broadcast partners, with Sky making 25 of their 64 games available on their free-to-air Pick TV channel.
And for the first time since the league’s inception in 1992 the BBC will broadcast four games free-to-air. Kick-off times will
■ differ slightly but the restart does depend on certain criteria being met.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: “We have provisionally agreed to resume the Premier League on Wednesday 17 June.
“But this date cannot be confirmed until we have met all the safety requirements needed, as the health and welfare of all participants and supporters is our priority.
“Sadly, matches will have to take place without fans in stadiums, so we are pleased to have come up with a positive solution for supporters to be able to watch all the remaining 92 matches.
“The Premier League and our clubs are proud to have incredibly passionate and loyal supporters. It is important to ensure as many people as possible can watch the matches at home.
“We will continue to work step by step and in consultation with all our stakeholders as we move towards resuming the 2019/20 season.”
Other issues discussed in the six-hour meeting included proposals to decide league placings on an unweighted pointsper-game system should there be a second spike in the virus and the season has to be curtailed.
The TV rebate will also be reduced from £340m to £170m if the season can be finished on time, while the transfer window will not open until the season has finished – meaning no deals until August.
Clubs are behind the plan to resume matches following the success of the return to training and low numbers of people who have tested positive for the virus.
They unanimously voted on Wednesday to resume contact training – having started non-contact training last week – and just 12 people have tested positive for Covid-19 following 2,752 tests across the league.
Football bosses have also been impressed with how well the Bundesliga has worked following the return of German football earlier this month.
Players and staff at all 20 Premier League clubs will continue to be tested twice a week, with the capacity increased from 50 to 60 tests available per club for the fourth round of testing. Any players or staff who test positive must self-isolate for a period of seven days.