The general details remain tentative but a plan is afoot for the Premier League to restart all scheduled games on June 1. The target is to hold the games in the next six weeks so the competition can be wrapped up the soonest. Then the next season can go for a start in August.
The resumption will be in line with the recent guidelines from UEFA that all domestic campaigns must be completed if the situation permits, which pertains to the sustained coronavirus outbreak that shut down sporting events in the world.
However, the plan for the competition to stretch more than a month will exceed the June 30 deadline for all campaigns to end set by UEFA. But as noted by the report from Metro, Premier League officials have yet to finalize the blueprint on how the games will be conducted, which also means that changes will still be applied as the situation will dictate.
"The situation continues to develop daily and this is seen as a best-case scenario by the Premier League, which is possibly more hopeful than likely," said the report.
League officials have anticipated that there will be issues to arise on players' contracts given that many deals will expire by the end of June. However, it is expected that a workaround on the matter will be issued by FIFA.
"We hope to get the league done by the end of June. As soon as you go past that date, there are legal challenges ... The challenge is making sure we don't have a knock-on effect to other seasons and make football compromised for years to come," Southampton chief executive Martin Semmens was reported as saying, speaking on behalf of the league.
Should the plan push through, The Sun said games will be held behind closed doors and in doing so, league officials are hopeful that the government will provide support. For one, authorities will need to issue clearance for workers that will help out during the games.
It is estimated that teams will still need to play 10 games each at most and that the season will end in time for the start of the next campaign, which if the plan will be followed with few glitches could begin as early as August 8, the report added.
Also aligned with the plan is the goal of completing all FA Cup matches by or not later than July 11. The decision to still resume the games is in accordance with the sentiments by the majority of Premier League club owners to complete season instead of declaring it null and void.
The season restart is also seen to mute the calls for the Premier League to end the competition now and declare Liverpool as champions.
