Premier League bid to ease safety fears

Crunch meeting tomorrow to allay worries for players Dresden game called off after two fail virus tests

The Premier League has opted to use the same laboratory as the German Bundesliga for its £4million Covid-19 testing process as it seeks to reassure players and staff this week that the Project Restart plans will protect them and their families.

The 20 top-flight clubs will hold a potentially crucial meeting tomorrow to discuss how to proceed but the difficulties of restarting football were made clear last night when Dynamo Dresden’s Bundesliga 2 match against Hannover was called off after two of their players tested positive for coronavirus.

The entire Dresden squad will now spend the next 14 days in quarantine, with the news likely to call into question whether football in Germany – which was set to be the first of Europe’s big five leagues to resume – can restart next Friday.

The news comes ahead of a Premier League meeting where the bottom six clubs are likely to again state their resistance to resuming at neutral venues.

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber last night reiterated his resistance to the plan, telling the Mail on Sunday:

“We have got to be careful that we do not misstep here because if we do, it could ruin lives. It could cost lives. And we cannot afford that.”

But the Premier League will instead look to reassure clubs they are doing everything possible to ensure their safety, highlighting their efforts in securing tests to screen players and staff.

It is understood that Prenetics, the Hong Kong based biotechnology company overseeing the process, will announce tomorrow that the tests will be processed at The Doctors Laboratory, which claims to be the largest of its kind in the UK.

TDL is also the testing base for the Bundesliga, which plans to be the first European league to try to get games back on behind closed doors in a biosecure environment.

The Sunday Telegraph can also reveal that the antigen tests administered to players and staff will be swabs in the nose, which will be taken by clinicians in full personal protective equipment.

There were originally fears that the nasal process would be too invasive with a swab through the nose to the back of the throat twice a week over three months or longer likely to cause pain and discomfort.

The Premier League is hopeful that the tests it has commissioned will be taken from the front of the nose and will not cause pain – or involuntary sneezing, as has been the case.

It is understood that Prenetics will head a consortium of interests to provide the Premier League with twiceweekly testing. The consortium, known as Project Screen by Circle, will produce results within 24 hours.

Prenetics will oversee the testing process, including setting up stations at training grounds and supplying the medical practitioners to administer them.

The Premier League conference call tomorrow will not ask clubs to vote on the contentious issues of neutral venues, return-to-training dates or medical testing procedures. There will be further consultation on those issues.

On a statement on its LinkedIn page, Prenetics confirmed The Daily Tele

graph’s story on Friday morning that it had agreed a £4 million deal with the “Premiere [sic] League to bring #ProjectScreen abroad as part of Project Restart – providing #COVID19 testing for atheletes [sic] and staff.” It also carried a link to the Telegraph’s online story on the completion of the deal.

The company, which has its headquarters in Hong Kong, employs 150 people in 10 offices in Europe, Asia and South Africa. Prenetics declined to comment further.

Meanwhile, League One and Two clubs are hoping the likely abandonment of their seasons could serve as a “wake-up call” to players in their protracted discussions over wage cuts. Clubs in the third and fourth tiers are expected to vote on Tuesday for the campaign to be terminated.

One source involved in the discussions said: “If we announce that we are stopping League One and League Two there will be an enormous shock for the players. The players can look at the numbers and the clubs can say, ‘Listen, hand on heart, this situation is pretty dire’.”