‘Fighting back’: Premier League club exec suggests restart BEFORE social distancing measures are lifted
The chief executive of Southampton, Martin Semmens, has suggested that lifting the Premier League suspension while various other coronavirus safety measures remain in place would be a sign that things are ‘coming back to normal’.
The league remains suspended until April 30 – and in all likelihood beyond – due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Semmens says that if league action was deemed safe by footballing authorities, the Premier League kicking off once again would give people a significant distraction in these trying times.
“We have to do what is right and safe for the general public,” Semmens said to a UK radio station.
“When everybody is safe and we’re not using up NHS and police resources, the government would like us to get back to playing because we are entertainment and a sign that the country is coming back to normal.
“If people are home for another month and Premier League football is on the TV every day that can only be a good thing. Not because we are more essential than the NHS but because we can give people entertainment and show that we’re fighting back.”
It was announced earlier this month that the Premier League was to join several other major sports leagues across the world by temporarily closing its doors as the Covid-19 crisis continues to play havoc with the sporting calendar.
There is as yet no firm indication as to when sports will be considered safe to resume.
UEFA took the unprecedented step of delaying this summer’s European Championships by 12 months, suggesting that football chiefs aren’t overly-confident that the sport can be resumed by this summer.
However, the lack of an international tournament window has been theorized as a window in which teams can make up the fixtures which have been delayed due to the crisis.
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“We hope to get the league done by the end of June,” Semmens explained. “As soon as you go past that date, there are legal challenges.
“If we ended up playing until 15 July and you had to extend a player’s contract by two weeks, convincing a player to play two more weeks of football and get paid nicely to do it – I don’t believe that will be a substantial challenge.
“The challenge is making sure we don’t have a knock-on effect to other seasons and make football compromised for years to come.”
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