The Standard – Kenya: Plans for training first step in Premier League’s ‘Project Restart’ | The Standard

Premier League clubs will discuss plans for resuming the season in a conference call on Friday but the practicalities of how to even begin training will be the first obstacle they have to overcome with “Project Restart”.

The league is hoping the U.K government, which is due to review coronavirus lockdown restrictions on May 7, will give the go-ahead to a return to training, albeit with strict medical guidelines in place.

Getting players back on the training field would clear the way to an eventual resumption of the season in early June with games expected to be held behind closed doors, possibly at neutral venues. No matches have taken place since March 9.

Although European soccer’s governing body UEFA has set a deadline of May 25 for leagues to inform it of their plans to resume action — in order to help with the schedule for the remaining Champions League and Europa League matches — the Premier League has plenty of time to complete its fixtures.

UEFA has indicated it is willing to wait until late August to complete the continental club competitions and that gives the Premier League the whole summer to work with.

“Patience is the key here and patience will lead to the correct decision, there simply is no rush where we stand right now,” one club official told Reuters.

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Leagues in France and the Netherlands have been cancelled for this season but there appears to be little pressure on the Premier League to follow suit.

While it was a French government decision that led to the cancellation of the Ligue 1 campaign, the U.K government’s cabinet minister responsible for sport, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, has said he has been working with the league with the aim of getting games on as soon as possible.

However, some players are apprehensive about the prospect of playing while the pandemic continues with Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger telling Germany’s ZDF: “If we continue to play and there is a danger, and we ignore that while people are dying somewhere in the world, I don’t know if that would sit right on my conscience.”

Although some clubs, including London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, have opened their training grounds, they have said the pitches are only being used for individual work and they are not back in normal practice sessions.

AGREED PROTOCOL

The league has been taking advice from club medical teams on how training could be conducted in a safe manner with the aim of finding an agreed protocol for clubs to agree upon.

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