English Premier League to restart after 100-day hiatus

The Premier League will restart on June 17, according to reports.

Executives from the 20 top-flight clubs gathered for a shareholders’ meeting yesterday, and it was reported that agreement was reached over the remaining rounds of games to be played.

Two rearranged matches – Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal – will be played first, before the first full round of games on the weekend of June 20 and 21, reports said.

The last action in the Premier League was on March 9, before the competition was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 13.

Clubs voted unanimously on protocols for contact training on Wednesday, another step along the road to resumption. Four individuals connected to three clubs tested positive for coronavirus in the league’s third round of testing, with 1,008 staff from Premier League clubs tested.

One of the players who was found to have Covid-19 in the first round of tests – Watford defender Adrian Mariappa – is back in training, with his club sharing footage of him returning to action.

It is also understood that new staggered kick-off times will be used for the remaining 92 matches.

Games on a Friday will kick off at 8pm, while on Saturday the slots will be 12.30pm, 3pm, 5.30pm and 8pm.

Sunday matches will kick off at 12pm, 2pm, 4.30pm and 7pm, with Monday games starting at 8pm.

Midweek games on Tuesdays and Wednesday will kick off at either 6pm or 8pm.

The news means the BBC will be televising Premier League matches live for the first time since the competition’s founding in 1992.

The corporation confirmed it will show four live matches throughout the remainder of the 201920 campaign, alongside their usual Match of the Day highlight programmes.

Barbara Slater, the BBC’s director of sport, said: “We are delighted and excited to have the chance to show live Premier League games on the BBC.”

Watford defender Adrian Mariappa