London Mayor Opposed to Premier League Restarting Matches Next Month

Even though London Mayor Sadiq Khan is "extremely keen" for the Premier League to resume, he thinks that it is too early to be considering the resumption of football matches and professional sport in general, a spokesperson for his office was cited as saying by the Evening Standard.

“As a Liverpool fan, Sadiq of course wants the Premier League to return, but it can only happen when it is safe to do so, and it cannot place any extra burden on the NHS and emergency services,” the spokesperson for the Mayor’s office added.

Clubs and the Premier League on Monday could not agree on plans for the resumption of the season, as the teams do not intend to play out the tournament on neutral fields. According to reports, London-based Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham were among the clubs that expressed their disagreement.

Earlier, the UK government allowed sporting events without spectators in the country starting from 1 June, which gave rise to rumours about a possible Premier League restart.

As per an official protocol send to Premier League players and manager setting out conditions for resuming training, pitches, goal posts, cones, etc. will have to be sanitised after each session, while footballers are supposed to be tested twice per week for coronavirus and undergo daily temperature checks.

The UK, which has started easing lockdown restrictions, is among the worst-affected countries in Europe, with the death toll reaching 32,000, while the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 223,000.