The 2019-20 Premier League season will resume on June 17, the league confirmed Thursday.
The Premier League held in-depth meetings with all 20 clubs and, among other matters; June 17 emerged as the date matches will return. Due to the coronavirus pandemic the Premier League season was suspended on March 13 with 92 games left.
As per the agreement, the two games in hand, Man City v. Arsenal and Aston Villa v. Sheffield United, will be played on June 17 so all teams are on 29 games played when then the rest of the games resume on June 19-21.
It is believed that the clubs want the Premier League season to be completed by August 1, so clubs can then focus on the FA Cup and European action in the Europa League and Champions League, while the 2020-21 season can then resume in early September.
Other reports suggest that a sticking point remains neutral stadiums as police forces in the UK want certain high-profile games to be played at neutral stadiums over fears of fans congregating outside home stadiums. However, it is believed the majority of games could be played at home stadiums as normal.
The meeting also discussed the plan for possible curtailment if playing the remaining games of the 2019-20 season is not possible and much more.
All players and staff at Premier League clubs will be tested twice a week during the strict return to training protocols put in place, with contact training now permitted after a return to small-group training was a success.
The third round of COVID-19 testing saw a slight rise in positive tests compared to the last, as a total of 2,752 COVID-19 tests have now been carried out on Premier League players and staff with a total of 12 positive results.
All 20 Premier League clubs have agreed to return to contact training in stage two of the ‘Project Restart’ plan, as the main focus was to agree on a Premier League restart date that managers and players can now focus on.
