ClapFans and media members alike have been waiting a long time for an official restart date for the English Premier League – and now, they’ve finally got it.
It appears if there is a tentative date of June 17 being set by the league, who released the following statement.
“Premier League Shareholders on Thursday 28 May agreed to a new provisional restart date for the 2019/20 season of Wednesday 17 June, provided that all safety requirements are in place.
Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal, postponed due to the Carabao Cup final, will now take place on 17 June, followed by a full match round beginning on Friday 19 June.
Due to COVID-19, matches will take place behind closed doors.”
Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters said: “Today we have provisionally agreed to resume the Premier League on Wednesday 17 June.
“But this date cannot be confirmed until we have met all the safety requirements needed, as the health and welfare of all participants and supporters is our priority.
“Sadly, matches will have to take place without fans in stadiums, so we are pleased to have come up with a positive solution for supporters to be able to watch all the remaining 92 matches.
“The Premier League and our clubs are proud to have incredibly passionate and loyal supporters. It is important to ensure as many people as possible can watch the matches at home.
“We will continue to work step-by-step and in consultation with all our stakeholders as we move towards resuming the 2019/20 season.”
As a result of the inevitable fixture congestion that will take place, there are going to be games that take place every single day of the week – and we mean that in the most literal sense imaginable.
The tests are still ongoing on a fairly regular basis, and it’ll be interesting to see whether or not they continue to bring back positive results.
If that happens, despite all of the social distancing measures that have been put in place, then questions could begin to rise.
“The Premier League can today confirm that on Thursday 28 May and Friday 29 May, 1,130 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19. Of these, zero have tested positive,” the league said in a statement.
The Bundesliga appears to be doing just fine after the first few matchdays, and it’s starting to look like they’re going to get the season completed – which seemed pretty unlikely not too long ago.
The Premier League, though, is of course based in England. Logically speaking, England has been affected far worse in comparison to Germany, with the poor reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic from the UK government being well documented.
Now, we have to wait and see whether or not this translates to what happens on the pitch. The green light has been given and the date has been put out there for the world to see, but can they live up to the expectations put in front of them by the Germans? Only time will tell, but there are reasons to be wary.
