Karen Brady says EPL faces major hurdles playing behind closed doors

At least 300 people will be required in Premier League stadiums even if games are played without fans when the season resumes.

West Ham’s home ground, the London Stadium. The club’s vice-chair Karren Brady says the Premier League faces significant hurdles even if the competition resumes behind closed doors. Picture: Getty Images

At least 300 people will be required in Premier League stadiums even if games are played without fans when the coronavirus-halted season resumes, says West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady.

The 20 EPL clubs held a conference call on Friday during which the league said they agreed the objective remains to complete the season, with teams having up to 10 games each remaining.

The earliest the league can restart is June, with Britain in lockdown until at least the first week of May.

“Police officers will need to be at games even if they are behind closed doors, as some supporters will travel to the stadium, even if they cannot come in to watch,” Brady wrote in a UK newspaper column at the weekend.

“But the police will want to ensure attending matches does not drain resources away from other matters.

“Everyone at the stadium – and even behind closed doors this is about 300-500 people – including security, staff, medical officers, players, referees and media, will have to have temperature checks, fill out health questionnaires and observe social distancing. All this is manageable but what if a player gets injured, where do we send him? It can’t be to an NHS hospital that is already under pressure … so then what?”

Brady is also unsure how long it will take for players to regain fitness for a resumption of playing.

“Players will have been able to retain some physical fitness at home, but if social-distancing rules are still in place, physical match-play training will not be allowed,” Brady wrote. “You can’t tackle from two metres away. So, how match-fit will players be if the season commences, as we all hope it will, by mid-June?”

Last month Brady called for the Premier League season to declared null and void.

West Ham are 16th in the 20-team table and out of the relegation zone on goal difference.

AP