London, Dec 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) With 19 out of 36 matches across divisions getting postponed this weekend, the Premier League clubs and their managers will be meeting the administrators in separate meetings in the next couple of days to discuss whether or not the competition should continue or take a break.
After a weekend in which many top flight matches were postponed due to outbreaks of Covid-19 at several clubs, the Premier League administrators will hold an emergency meeting with the clubs on Monday to discuss the situation.
The club owners will confront the league over the situation and the effectiveness of emergency measures, imposed a week ago but unable to stop six fixtures from being postponed on Thursday alone.
According to reports in the English media, the managers will meet after Monday's meeting between the league and club owners to discuss their concerns with some clubs set to express their desire for a Christmas "firebreak" of fixtures.
Saturday's match between Burnley and Aston Villa was the latest to fall victim to the virus and was cancelled just two and a half hours before the scheduled 15:00 hours kick off after further cases of the virus among the visitors' squad.
"After reviewing all the new information provided by Aston Villa this morning and receiving separate medical advice, the board approved the request as a result of the club not having enough players to field a team. This decision was based on the number of Covid-19 cases, injuries and illness," explained a statement issued by the Premier League.
"The board assesses applications to postpone matches on a case-by-case basis, based on existing rules and Covid-19 postponement guidance issued to all clubs."
"It will assess a number of factors, including the ability of a club to field a team; the status, severity and potential impact of the Covid-19 outbreak at the club; and the ability of the players to safely prepare for and play the match. The board must also consider the wider risks to the opposition and other people the club representatives may come into contact with," said the Premier League.
The league added that new protocols, which include "more frequent testing, wearing face coverings while indoors, observing social distancing and limiting treatment time," have all be introduced.
Next weekend is one of the most important of the Premier League, with the traditional Boxing Day games quickly followed by a midweek game and a round of New Year fixtures, the most important of the fixtures of the season.
But with so many matches getting postponed this weekend, the club owners and managers fear that the hectic travel for matches during the next couple of weeks may add to the spread of Covid.
Though a 'firebreak' will not be on the agenda of Monday's meeting, but some clubs are certain to raise the issue given the depth of Covid outbreak within some squads and the public remarks of some managers.
Newcastle's Eddie Howe told the English media he wanted the Premier League halted if only half the games can be played safely and teams are missing players because of Covid. "I don't think we want half the games played and half not played," he said. "The league really loses something if it becomes disjointed in terms of games played," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian newspaper in a report.
According to the report, Mikel Arteta also raised the issue of sporting integrity bore Arsenal's fixture with Leeds, scheduled to go ahead on Saturdaythis evening.
"We need more clarity on why those games are not being played and what you need to not have a game played, so you can maintain the fairness of the competition," he said. "We have been here on the other side of the table [at the start of the season] where we had all the arguments in the world to not play a football match and we ended up playing it."
Not every manager or club is in favour of a pause, with some believing the Premier League strategy of playing as many games as is possible is the best approach, if the season is not to become overwhelmingly congested.
Liverpool's J?rgen Klopp claimed he was not against a brief halt but said: "I just don't see 100% the benefit of it. Stopping the league means we stop now for one to two weeks, it means [missing] five to six games. So when do you want to play them?
"We have a game on Sunday, we have then a game on Wednesday in a competition, then [in January] the FA Cup where, if I am 100% right - and tell me if I am wrong - the opponent has no real testing regime and the vaccination rate is really low. But we don't know anything about it and we don't get any kind of information because it's football and we have to play against them."
Source: IANS
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