Players must show ‘passport’ in order to enter the pitch

Players will not need to selfisolate if someone from an opposing team tests positive for coronavirus, under protocols drawn up by the Premier League.

The league believes its testing programme – whereby players undergo a test twice a week – along with temperature checks and health questionnaires will allow them to mitigate the risks of the virus spreading between players during a match.

A clinical passport, proving that individual has tested negative for coronavirus within the last five days, must be presented to enter the “red zone” of a stadium – basically the pitch and the immediate area.

Research on 288 Premier League matches this season found that 98 per cent of the time on-pitch interactions between players lasted less than five minutes in total – well under the 15 minutes of close contact the government sets as the threshold for someone to be traced when an individual tests positive.

Clubs unanimously approved the protocols and the matchday operations plan at a shareholders’ meeting yesterday, ahead of the league’s restart on 17 June.

Players have been reminded of the need to maintain social distancing when celebrating goals and speaking to referees.

While touching of elbows – a regular sight since the Bundesliga resumed – will not be prohibited, the key message is to maintain social distancing wherever possible. Handshakes will be discouraged, but there will be no disciplinary sanctions for players who forget these guidelines in the heat of the moment.

They must also keep their distance from referees, while coaching staff are under instruction not to come within two metres of the fourth official.

Coaching staff and substitutes wear masks in the Bundesliga but it is understood this will not happen in the Premier League.

Clubs may split players over two dressing rooms and use other areas in the ground as changing rooms – such as corporate hospitality areas – if necessary.