Reportedly, several players have refused to accept the testing protocol which directs each Premier League footballers to be tested twice a week for COVID-19.
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Moroccan midfielder Romain Saiss (C) sends a shot high over the bar during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England, on December 29, 2019. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)
Premier League players, who are not confident about returning to training due to health and safety concerns, are likely to speak to their respective club captains before deciding whether or not to get back to work.
According to a Sky Sports report, many footballers are willing to get back on the field, while some have expressed reservations citing safety issues.
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“Some of our players don’t want to come back but the majority will,” one senior executive at a Premier League club said as quoted by the English outlet. “They’re going to play again in Germany so there’s no reason why we can’t try to as well.”
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Meanwhile, some of the Premier League captains – including Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire, Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta and Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson – held a video conference on Wednesday with league authorities and medical experts to understand the guidelines and protocols that the players would have to follow to resume training.
Reportedly, several players have refused to accept the protocol on testing for the novel coronavirus which directs each Premier League footballers to be tested twice a week, including in the 48 hours before training.
The players are also required to sign a so-called “consent forms” to display their support to go ahead with the resumption of the season.
However, the United Kingdom government gave the Premier League a green light to resume the 2019-20 season in June. After the government’s green light, the representatives of all the 20 clubs held a video conference where they tried to chalk out a plan to restart.
The meeting on Monday saw the clubs discussing the plans laid under ‘Project Restart’ which was initiated with aims to see Premier League making a return by June.
Among the many guidelines, the Project Restart states that all players and required staff must be tested twice for the novel coronavirus and given a medical clearance before entering the training ground as the Premier League plans to resume training from May 18.
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