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English Premier League Plans to Resume June 17


LONDON — The English Premier League, the most-watched sports league in the world, plans to resume play on June 17 after a two-month hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, league officials announced on Thursday.

The resumption of play follows Germany’s Bundesliga, which began play last week. It adds momentum to a comeback of sports, with several North American leagues also making plans to find a way back to play.

The league’s return would come after weeks of uncertainty amid disagreement among teams over the possibilities. Germany’s successful return to action earlier this month, with the league completing two rounds of action without incident, helped build consensus among executives of England’s leading teams who would have faced huge losses should the season be called off.

The agreement still requires final clearance from British authorities.

In recent days, momentum had been building that the league would return to action after similar moves to complete the season without fans in a growing number of leagues across Europe. English teams earlier this week agreed to protocols for the resumption of full contact practice, a necessary step before competing in games again.

Sky Sports, which broadcasts the majority of Premier League games in Britain, said the first games on the schedule will be Aston Villa hosting Sheffield United and Arsenal’s visit to Manchester City. Those games were postponed earlier in the season because of a clash in the calendar.

For weeks, several setbacks had suggested that the Premier League might not find a solution to completing the season. Some players raised doubts about returning to action during the pandemic, and a number of smaller teams objected to the possibility of having to play the remaining games at neutral sites. Some of the more high-profile games are almost certain to be played at secondary venues to help manage crowds. Slowly, the league’s various stakeholders started to coalesce around the need to try to restart, with the realities of not completing the season becoming clearer. There would be a thicket of legal issues, most notably related to deciding which three teams would be relegated to the second tier, a demotion worth tens of millions of pounds. A punishing rebate would also be owed to domestic and global broadcasters that pay more for the Premier League than any other national soccer championship.

The Premier League’s restart plans have received regular support from the British government, with senior lawmakers regularly talking up the possibility of games being played should strict hygiene regulations be met.

Latest Updates: Coronavirus Outbreak in the U.S.

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The league has recently conducted three rounds of tests on players and staff, which resulted in 12 positive tests out of 2,752 administered. The tests are required to take place twice weekly, with anyone who tests positive told to self-isolate for seven days before being cleared to return.

Early indications from Germany suggest that soccer, even devoid of jersey-clad fans, is as big a draw as ever, achieving record numbers on television for the first slate of games.

The appetite in England is likely to be just as high with Liverpool, which led the league by 25 points, two victories away from ending a title drought dating back 30 years, and the competition for the qualifying positions for the Champions League fierce with 10 games to go.

Should there be a setback, the league would likely be forced to decide final positions on a points-per-game ratio, which would be similar to a decision taken by the French league, which surprised many earlier this month when it called its season off following a declaration from the French prime minister that games could not be played there until September.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

  • Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

    Updated May 28, 2020

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

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      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

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      More than 40 million people — the equivalent of 1 in 4 U.S. workers — have filed for unemployment benefits since the pandemic took hold. One in five who were working in February reported losing a job or being furloughed in March or the beginning of April, data from a Federal Reserve survey released on May 14 showed, and that pain was highly concentrated among low earners. Fully 39 percent of former workers living in a household earning $40,000 or less lost work, compared with 13 percent in those making more than $100,000, a Fed official said.

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      The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

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      If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.

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      Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities.


Even if it completes the season, the Premier League, which in many ways is a financial driver for the European soccer industry more broadly, stands lose around 500 million pounds, through lost stadium revenues, additional costs associated with the new measures and millions that broadcasters are demanding to be repaid because of the interruption to the season.

English clubs, by far the biggest buyers in soccer global player trading market, will not be in a position to maintain spending that pushed total worldwide spending beyond $7 billion last year. The repercussions are likely to hit teams in secondary leagues like Portugal and Belgium hardest, where team business models are often reliant on Premier League’s largess.

Recent reports have said top English teams have either pulled out of talks to acquire new talent or sought to renegotiate deals that were in the works before the health crisis.


Source: Soccer - nytimes.com

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