December 20 (THEWILL) –Â Despite a recent surge in coronavirus cases, the majority of Premier League clubs want to play through the holidays.
Due to a rash of Covid-19 breakouts, only half of last weekend’s scheduled games were played, and more players and crew continue to test positive in each new round of testing.
As a result, numerous top-flight managers have raised concerns about the safety of continuing to play. Last week, Brentford manager Thomas Frank called a halt to a press conference after learning that members of his staff had tested positive.
Following his depleted side’s 0-0 draw with Wolves on Sunday, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel questioned the safety of continuing to play.
Despite these, the majority of clubs do not want a holiday break.
As THEWILL reported, the Premier League held a virtual meeting on Monday to examine a variety of initiatives to handle the situation. The majority of teams were in favour of continuing as usual, however a few were in favour of transferring the round of fixtures scheduled for December 28-30 to later in the season.
It was also suggested that the season be halted entirely, however no single team is known to be in favour of such a move at this time.
One critical yet common position of all the teams was preventing anything that would lead to clubs returning to having their games played behind closed doors.
Executives are adamant about refunding season tickets and compensating sponsors, as they were forced to do during the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons.
For the time being, fans are permitted to enter stadiums at full capacity. However, sources say that after Christmas, England may switch to Tier 2 measures. Only 2,000 spectators would be permitted during games under these restrictions.
This would be a devastating financial hit to clubs at all levels of the game.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
