Prem sides to push to FINISH season by June 30 despite coronavirus crisis to avoid contract mayhem

A GROWING number of Premier League clubs will tomorrow push for the season to be finished by June 30.

Chiefs from the 20 sides will hold a video conference for the latest coronavirus crisis talks — including the first official discussions of a definitive end-date being put in place.

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Liverpool fans will be praying they can enjoy winning the Premier League this seasonCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Some clubs fear a delayed campaign into July could lead to legal mayhem over player contracts, with the only alternative being to declare the season null and void.

One insider said: “Clubs are starting to take the view that if we go beyond June 30 – when player contracts end – we will be in chaos territory.

“Fifa say clubs and players have the ability to extend contracts but there is nothing hard and fast legally to make that happen.

“Everybody wants to see the season played out, of course we do.

“But how do you demand that players who are actually out of contract, who might be considering moves to teams they are going to be playing against, give everything?

“You can’t. If the games aren’t finished by the end of June the sporting integrity of the competition could go out of the window.”

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There is a split between the clubs who believe that every step must be taken to play out the campaign to its conclusion and a growing number who argue the timetable makes that impossible.

Any discussion of terminating the season would be met with fierce push-back from League bosses and some clubs, especially table-topping Liverpool who could be denied their first championship crown since 1990.

So far boardroom voices in favour of writing off the season have been dismissed as a minority view, with the majority of clubs concerned about the financial hit if broadcasters demand their cash back.

Prem bosses have modelled detailed scenarios which envisage a resumption behind closed doors from a number of starting points in June, July and even August.

CONTRACTS CAN’T BE EXTENDED

But a group of clubs have held private talks about pushing for a proper debate over whether it is realistic to start considering the alternative option of declaring the season over.

And those clubs will argue that June 30, when a number of player and coaching contracts will legally end, represents the last sensible date when matches in the 2019-20 season can be played.

Fifa’s legal director Emilio Garcia Silvero conceded that the world body cannot demand contracts be extended past June 30, although it can refuse to register any players who try to switch clubs before the season is completed.

So far, all of the Big Six are understood to back the moves to play out the campaign, as they run the threat of being exposed to aggregate losses of up to £680m between them if there is no more football this season.

Nobody is talking about a vote on this, just a grown-up conversation

FA Insider

Those clubs will respond to any calls for a discussion on potentially ending the season with a firm reminder of what is on the line for all 20 teams.

But even in the best-case scenario of a June return, it will have been fully three months since Leicester’s 4-0 thumping of Aston Villa on March 9, the last Prem game played before the virus shutdown was introduced.

Some clubs are asking, now, if any resumed campaign would have much relevance to the first seven months of the season in light of such an elongated break.

And if the sands have shifted, then the responses from around the virtual table will be a signal of where the debate is heading.

The insider added: “Nobody is talking about a vote on this, just a grown-up conversation.

“It is time, though, that the clubs started to discuss what might have to happen.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk