Coronavirus and Football (Plus all Sport in General)

[Exiled_red]

There is no way we will be able to fulfil all of the 2020/21 season in 12 months from August either.

We should allow ourselves until next summer to finish THIS season, and if we start to get some games going then create a new cup with like a champ league format to flesh it out.

I've been saying this for a while, it's the only sensible thing to do

[rodo]

Obviously positive tests only seem to occur in clubs near the bottom of leagues

[brightred]

I've been saying this for a while, it's the only sensible thing to do

How do you you and Buzzo know that?

One of the craziest things about this is how many people seem to be experts about the virus.

[Fivex]

How do you you and Buzzo know that?



One of the craziest things about this is how many people seem to be experts about the virus.

Open your eyes mate - it’s not going anywhere fast

[Exiled_red]

How do you you and Buzzo know that?

One of the craziest things about this is how many people seem to be experts about the virus.

Given that it seems that there isn't going to be a vaccine until some time probably mid 2021 at the earliest, countries are starting to ease restrictions while the virus is still around it seems likely that there will be a second wave obviously we don't know for sure. Combine this with the fact that the 2020-21 season will be starting late due to this, start date of September seems to be suggested. At the end of the season is the Euros meaning that there is almost no time to push anything back in the event of the season being stopped due to a second wave (or anything else).

Obviously we don't know anything for certain it just seems hugely optimistic that we can finish this season all of next season and the Euros all in a period of just over a year with this going on.

[Fredo]

Premier League could return in June – report

Government sources have briefed the Telegraph that the Premier League could return in June. The paper says a government paper on elite sports is expected to be published on Tuesday.

These will give the green light for professional sports to return next month, including the Premier League’s planned resumption on June 12, subject to safety conditions being met and coronavirus infection rates not rising. However Boris Johnson’s go-ahead comes as up to eight Premier League clubs are expected to argue against the use of neutral venues and call for ‘Project Restart’ to be put back at a crucial meeting today.

[Barnie7]

I think the football weekend in Germany (if it goes ahead) could be a defining moment..to see how it all works , games not at neutral grounds etc etc , if everything goes 100% as planned then I don't see why all teams cant play at home in the UK...if it goes t*ts up - which is a possibility - then I think the start will be delayed indefinitely!!

[Chazza]

Project Restart: the four stances dividing Premier League clubs
For some clubs ‘the show must go on’ while others say ‘not under these conditions’ – we take a look at the differing approaches to a resumption

1 The show must go on
The plain, public argument for resuming competition was made in a statement released after the last meeting of the Premier League’s 20 clubs. “The clubs reconfirmed their commitment to finishing the 2019‑20 season,” it read, “maintaining integrity of the competition.”

Sporting integrity matters in an abstract way, that it’s better to complete something properly than have it decided by committee. More tangibly, there is also an argument for playing on so that European qualification can be decided on the field. Finally, Liverpool may only be two games from the title but it would surely be preferable for them to win their first championship in 30 years on the pitch.

But really, it’s about the money. According to a letter sent last month by the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, to the select committee of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the top flight faces “a £1bn loss, at least, if we fail to complete season 2019-20”.

As the main beneficiaries of the league’s lucrative broadcast deals, the competition’s biggest clubs stand to lose the most, perhaps as much as £100m each once failed sponsorship and absent matchday revenue is factored in.

Even for some of the biggest clubs in the world, these sums are stark and the losses may not be sustainable. It’s these concerns that are driving any return to play, even if they are not being aired publicly by the clubs.

2 If not now, then when?
Last week the Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, made a new, more nuanced case for resumption.

In an article for the Sunday Times, he acknowledged the financial component of the argument. “Yes, it is partly about the money,” he wrote but also made clear there was “a list of things we cannot and will not do” in any return, such as increase the load on frontline services. He added: “We must put the health of [the players] and their families front and centre whenever we play again.”

Provided those safeguards were in place, and he believed they could be, Parish argued that football should play on, because waiting may not make things any better.

“Many of the same issues regarding player welfare, venues and closed-doors matches will exist [in the autumn],” he wrote. “The more we can work out now, the better chance we have.”

This was the positive case for resumption and one that may appeal to a number of clubs with less at stake than those at the top or bottom. An argument sides such as Burnley and Sheffield United, who have declared their enthusiasm for resumption in the right conditions, could perhaps fall behind.

3 Health comes first
A week later, however, Parish had refined his position. “We would be derelict in our duty if we didn’t find a way to try to bring the game back,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, but “it may prove beyond us. We have huge challenges in order to ... complete this season”.

The Palace chairman was basically making the same argument but it sounded very different. In crossing the fine line between enthusiasm and caution in this debate it echoed the words of Chelsea’s Frank Lampard. “We’re all working in the same direction that we want it back,” he said this month, “but … we cannot risk the health of players and staff that are working in football – we can’t.”

Effectively the majority of the clubs in the division want the Premier League to restart if it can be made safe. The problem is that the virus will dictate when that is possible.

4 Not under these conditions
There are a group of clubs who are actively against restarting the competition as planned. Project Restart involves lots of challenges for securing medical safety but also requires that the 92 remaining matches are played at neutral grounds.

For some clubs, not by coincidence those at the bottom of the division, this attacks the very integrity that the resumption of play is supposed to protect.

How can it be fair for clubs to lose their home advantage at such a crucial stage of the season, they argue? The chief executive of Watford, Scott Duxbury, called it a “distorted nine-game mini league”.

Other clubs, speaking anonymously, have called such opinions sabotage, or an attempt to stonewall progress until it is too late to resume play.

According to Uefa, leagues must decide by 25 May if they are to resume. The clock is ticking.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/10/project-restart-the-four-stances-dividing-premier-league-clubs

[Shaggy]

[ame]https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/1259833579137314819[/ame]









Or another way of putting it......







[ame]https://twitter.com/IndyFootball/status/1259830883462393857[/ame]

[Pablo]

One more month to wait by the looks of it

Suppose the main danger now is another spike in the meantime, which to be honest, wouldn't be a surprise.

[Fosterbloke]

Just keep the entire squad interned, no outsiders.

Play a game every two days.

[Chazza]

Golf courses back open for a 2 ball.

[Norbs]

https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/1259833579137314819







Or another way of putting it......







https://twitter.com/IndyFootball/sta...30883462393857

Like Paul Merson said then

[Chris]

Sounds like the nothing clubs got put back in their boxes at the meeting. Good stuff.

[Shaggy]

[ame]https://twitter.com/IndyFootball/status/1259859624540491779[/ame]