English Premier League says show must go on

The EPL has expressed “full confidence” that the season can proceed as scheduled despite the Tottenham-Fulham match becoming the second game it has postponed this week.

A young fans plays football outside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the match between Spurs and Fulham which was postponed as a Covid-19 precaution

The English Premier League has expressed “full confidence” that the season can proceed as scheduled despite the Tottenham-Fulham match becoming the second game it has postponed this week.

Any suspension of the season because of rising Covid-19 cases would be seen as the last resort by league chiefs and most club executives – including those at all the “big six” sides – who think there is no space for a break in an already congested season.

The EPL’s position has also been boosted by Manchester City, whose game against Everton was postponed on Monday after five players contracted Covid-19, announcing no new positives after the club’s staff and players were tested again on Tuesday. It means that their match away to Chelsea on Sunday should go ahead.

Any disruption to the schedule may mean that the English Premier League is again potentially liable to pay compensation to broadcasters. There is also no agreement on a system for deciding the outcome of the league if it were to be curtailed before the end of the season.

The Fulham-Tottenham match was called off only three hours before kick-off after a meeting of the EPL board. It followed a request for a postponement from Fulham owing to several positive Covid-19 test results and players with symptoms.

Even though the league has stated that matches must go ahead if clubs have 14 players available – including under-23s – the decision was taken on similar grounds to those that led to the Everton-City match being postponed, with independent medical advice warning that there would be a risk of transmission to the other team.

Mourinho mocked the league in an Instagram post before the postponement of Spurs’ game against Fulham was made official, saying: “Match at 6pm … We still don’t know if we play. Best league in the world.”

An EPL statement read: “With low numbers of positive tests across the overwhelming majority of clubs, the Premier League continues to have full confidence in its Covid-19 protocols and being able to continue to play our fixtures as scheduled.”

Jose Mourinho, the Tottenham coach, had made clear his feelings about the lack of notice. Four hours before the scheduled kick-off, he posted a video on Instagram of his players waiting for the announcement, writing: “Match at 6pm … We still don’t know if we play. Best league in the world.”

Spurs are understood to have conveyed their frustrations to the EPL, including that they felt they were kept in the dark by Fulham, who did not inform the north London club of their request for a postponement.

Tottenham’s public statement, however, was brief, reading: “Everyone at Tottenham Hotspur sends their best wishes to Fulham for a safe and speedy recovery to all those who are affected.”

Unlike last season, there is no scope for extending the campaign into the summer as the delayed European Championship is set to begin in June.

Sam Allardyce, the West Bromwich Albion manager, has called for a two-week “circuit-breaker” but there has been no pressure from the government for elite football to take a break. Ministers are happy that the testing arrangements and protocols in place mean that the situation is different from that in March, when last season was halted. The only development that could prompt a break is if half the teams developed large numbers of cases.

Last night’s (Wednesday’s) decision followed much the same pattern as with City. Fulham applied for the game to be postponed, the Premier League’s independent medical advisers considered the situation and decided it was too risky for the match to go ahead. Fulham’s staff and players will be tested again before they visit Burnley on Sunday.

The Premier League statement continued: “Fulham lodged a request with the Premier League Board to rearrange the fixture following a significant rise in positive Covid-19 cases, as well as a number of players showing symptoms. The Premier League board has consulted its medical advisers and the decision to postpone the game has been taken as a precaution.”

City’s match against Everton was cancelled after five players and two staff members contracted the virus in the space of a week. However, the club announced yesterday (Wednesday) that all staff and players had recorded negative results in the latest round of testing.

Everton were still waiting for the league to give them a full account of why their match was called off. The news that City’s game against Chelsea will go ahead only deepened Everton’s sense of anger at not having had an explanation. City’s training ground reopened to the first team after they made alterations to the facility to reduce the risk of transmission.

All first-team players and staff will be tested twice, before they travel to west London to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

If the worst happens in terms of the season being affected, the top-flight clubs would have to vote on how to determine the outcome. Previous discussions ended in an impasse, with the bigger clubs wanting the season to be decided on a points-per-game system if 26 of the 38 rounds had taken place, and the smaller clubs pushing for it to be at least 75 per cent completed (29 rounds).

THE TIMES