BIG SAM’S TICKING-OFF FOR CIRCUIT-BREAKER CALLS

THE Premier League have written to clubs with instructions not to advocate a suspension of the top-flight season, following Sam Allardyce’s call for a circuitbreaker to quell the rise in positive Covid-19 cases. In a letter sent to the 20 chief executives — to be passed on to managers — the League warned that any break in the season could have disastrous financial consequences. It made clear that Allardyce’s description last Tuesday of a ‘circuit-break’ as ‘the right thing’ was not the message they wanted or expected from the clubs. The Premier League agreed to pay rebates totalling £330million to domestic broadcasters alone last year as a result of the threemonth suspension triggered by the initial lockdown, and mass postponements this season would lead to further financial penalties. As a result, the Premier League board are determined to carry on playing during the third national lockdown, and are confident they will be able to do so despite a record number of 40 players and staff testing positive for coronavirus over the past week, more than double the previous high, which was 18 positive results from 21 to 27 December. Several clubs also held informal talks yesterday over whether the existing Covid protocols introduced last year could be strengthened, although many are understood to feel that they are already as stringent as possible without making their players live together in one bio-secure bubble for an extended period.