Premier League maintains intention to finish the league season after Friday meeting

After their Friday meeting, Premier League clubs maintained their stance on finishing the current season reports the BBC.

Football in England has been suspended since mid-March as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread around the world.

Arsenal was the first team to be hit in the Premier League when Mikel Arteta was diagnosed with the virus.

His diagnosis forced the Premier League to reschedule Arsenal’s game against Manchester City before suspending the entire season days later.

The clubs met again on Friday and they were expected to decide on several issues regarding the suspension and its ongoing effects.

Some teams were apparently hoping to discuss controversially ending the season by June 30th this season so that clubs can avoid keeping their soon-to-be out of contract players, but they were told that this wasn’t the right time for such a discussion.

The meeting ended with the teams agreeing to finish the campaign, however, there was no set date for when the competition would resume with the Premier League waiting on the UK government to give them the go-ahead.

“In common with other businesses and industries, the Premier League and our clubs are working through complex planning scenarios,” the Premier League said.

“We are actively engaging with stakeholders, including broadcast partners, and our aim is to ensure we are in a position to resume playing when it is safe to do so and with the full support of the government. The health and wellbeing of players, coaches, managers, club staff and supporters are our priority and the League will only restart when medical guidance allows.

“Today’s shareholders’ meeting provided an opportunity to discuss possible scheduling models. It remains our objective to complete the 2019-20 season but at this stage all dates are tentative while the impact of Covid-19 develops.”