Premier League news: How Boris Johnson's Sunday speech will impact Project Restart
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Updated 10/05/2020 at 15:23 GMT
Premier League clubs are set for another meeting regarding Project Restart on Monday, but all eyes will first be on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on Sunday.
Premier League clubs are set for another meeting regarding Project Restart on Monday, but all eyes will first be on Boris Johnson’s speech on Sunday
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When is Johnson’s speech? And what is it about?
The UK Prime Minister will address the nation at 7pm on Sunday, where he is expected to announce the government’s exit strategy from the current lockdown due to coronavirus.
What is Project Restart?
The basis of the Premier League’s plans for Project Restart were set out in the Daily Mirror. They are:
- The Premier League to pay for a comprehensive training regime
- Phased return to training – this, as per The Telegraph, is pencilled in for mid-May
- Full training, to start towards the end of May
- Games to resume in early June
- On-going communication with the government on match-day requirements
So how will Sunday’s speech impact Project Restart?
Professional football leagues across Europe have followed their respective government’s guidelines regarding the resumption of sport, with varying outcomes.
France’s Ligue 1 was ended prematurely after the French government banned sporting events until September, while the Dutch Eredivisie was cancelled for the same reason.
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PSG were declared champions after Ligue 1 ended prematurely
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On the other hand, Germany’s Bundesliga is set to restart on May 16 after Chancellor Angela Merkel gave it the green light, while Spain`s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is hopeful La Liga will restart “soon”.
Therefore, the Premier League’s plan to complete the current season – which is known as Project Restart – will likely be influenced by Johnson’s speech on Sunday.
The UK government said there would be "no dramatic overnight change" to lockdown restrictions, but Sunday’s address could help pencil in a timeline for the Premier League, ranging from when players can return to individual training, to working out possible dates for matches and its eventual completion.
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Liverpool are on the brink of ending a 30-year wait for a league title
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UEFA has given a May 25 deadline for leagues to inform them of their plans to resume action, with the governing body indicating it is happy for the Champions League and Europa League to be concluded in late August, once domestic campaigns able to restart are over.
Can the Premier League take inspiration from elsewhere?
The practicalities around how Premier League clubs can begin training again is expected to be discussed during their Monday meeting.
La Liga’s return to training this week has shown the Premier League the way, with Barcelona’s players taking part in individual sessions on Friday.
Further down the line, the Bundesliga’s return next weekend will offer the Premier League an insight into how matchdays will play out, while there be increased scrutiny on its comeback after Dynamo Dresden’s entire squad were forced into a 14-day quarantine after two positive coronavirus tests.
The Bundesliga will resume behind closed doors, with all matches sticking to the home and away schedule as originally planned.
This is in contrast to the Premier League’s current proposal to host games at neutral venues.
With roughly nine rounds of matches to be played, a number of Premier League clubs have spoken out against the use of neutral venues, arguing the importance of home advantage.
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber has urged the Premier League to follow the Bundesliga’s lead, insisting English clubs are just as capable to host the matches as planned, and deal with the “operational, commercial, and health and safety” challenges that come with it.
Could players and doctors have their say?
Club doctors wrote to the Premier League last week raising their concerns over football’s return amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Athletic.
Doctors from all 20 top-tier clubs have sent a joint-email to the Premier League’s medical advisor Mark Gillett and director of football Richard Garlick.
The letter, seen by The Athletic, is split into 10 subject areas and features around 100 questions, including: “As doctors, how can we ‘approve’ guidelines that still carry risk of death?”
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Sergio Aguero has expressed his reservations about the Premier League restarting
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Meanwhile, around 50 players are expected to miss the restart of the Premier League, according to the Mirror.
The paper reports that two or three players from each club may miss the games as they are concerned about their own vulnerability, or have family members who are at risk of complications from the disease. Sergio Aguero has already openly expressed his concerns.
The Premier League will be taking player feedback on board, but it remains to be seen what impact a potential refusal to play could have on the plans to return.
Restarting sport ‘would lift the nation’
During Tuesday’s briefing at Downing Street, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the return of sport would be a boost for the UK.
"I think it would lift spirits of the nation," Raab said. "People would like to see us get back to work and children can go to school safely but also pastimes like sport.
"I can tell you that the culture secretary has been working on a plan to get sport played behind closed doors when we move to the second phase so that is something we are looking at.
"Of course, the key point though - we can only do it when the medical advice and scientific advice is that it can be done safely and sustainably. But certainly that is something under active consideration."
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