IT’S ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR PEP & CO
PROJECT RESTART
THE English Premier League and Football League have been given the Government go-ahead to accelerate plans to complete their seasons. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has this morning released phase two of its ‘Elite sport returning to training guidance’ which enables competitive and close-contact training. And in a further boost, the EFL’s hopes of finishing the Championship season improved yesterday after they confirmed just two individuals — both from Hull City — tested positive from 1,014 tests. The developments mean it is now full steam ahead for England’s top two divisions to complete their respective campaigns at the beginning of a key week for Project Restart. Managers and players are due to meet with the Premier League to discuss the phase two protocols on Tuesday, with clubs voting on whether to move on to the next stage of training on Wednesday. On Thursday, there is another meeting of clubs to discuss plans for any eventual curtailment of the season and the contentious issue of broadcasters’ rebates — which could amount to around £340million. Likewise, Sportsmail understands the Premier League will conduct compliance and monitoring visits from this week to ensure that clubs are not breaking the rules set down over returning to training. But despite a growing feeling among Premier League figures that clubs will vote to move on to phase two training, there are still a number of issues that players and managers want clarity on. These include the Government guidance on a return to close-contact training, which appears to suggest that large groups of players face going into a 14-day quarantine, a scenario which would send a club’s preparations into disarray. Point seven of the UK Government guidelines states: ‘Due to the increased risk of transmission under Stage Two conditions, the Covid-19 officer must have a clear policy for managing a Covid-19 positive individual and abide by government and PHE guidelines and reporting requirements.’ That has raised questions over whether a player who has tested positive — and his colleagues in the training group — would have to quarantine for two weeks.