Clubs in talks over restart protocols

Top-flight clubs will work to standardised return-totraining protocols as part of the Premier League’s ‘Project Restart’.

It is understood medical representatives from the clubs gathered for a conference call on Saturday to discuss division-wide protocols on a variety of subjects, including training and testing, to allow football to return amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Regular testing of all players and key staff for Covid-19 will be a crucial plank of any restart plan, and the PA news agency understands the cost of these tests will be met centrally by the Premier League.

All clubs will be working to the same protocols in terms of training sessions, which will be designed to minimise the risk of infection.

These protocols, informed by Saturday’s conference call, will be presented to club executives at the league’s next shareholders’ meeting on Friday.

In Spain, Laliga has set out a four-stage phased return building up from individual work to full group sessions before competition resumes.

The players’ union, the Professional Footballers’ Association, has also been heavily involved in discussions around the protocols.

Clubs have also been told that only approved stadiums can be used, operating to a higher certification than in normal circumstances.

It has been reported that this could mean matches being played at neutral venues, which would lead to questions over the integrity of the competition.

Again, the matter will be discussed further on Friday.

European football’s governing body Uefa has asked its member leagues to submit restart plans by May 25, as it begins preparatory work for next season’s continental club competitions.

Uefa wants league seasons to be completed where possible, and issued guidelines last week stressing that qualification places should be settled on sporting merit using “objective, transparent and non-discriminatory” criteria.