Report: British Prime Minister to provide plan for return of Premier League

The English Premier League is targeting a June 12 return date, and they may be about to get some significant government support in the coming week. The Telegraph is reporting Prime Minister Boris Johnson is going unveil a plan to Parliament on Monday that will provide a roadmap out of the current lockdown, “with a government paper on elite sports expected to be published on Tuesday.”

The plan is to move toward a June 12th resumption with a neutral venue set-up, but The Telegraph is reporting this comes as up to eight EPL clubs are arguing against a restart in the next month. The report has the bottom six teams “joined by two others, both significantly higher up the league” in opposition to the plan. Brighton announced a third player tested positive for Covid-19 and this group of teams is wondering what will happen if players test positive when the EPL resumes and what the plan is if there is a second wave of the virus.

The entirety of the EPL will be meeting on Monday to discuss the latest plans, and then the league will present plans to the leading players on Tuesday and Wednesday. Government and police are set to meet with the EPL on Thursday to further clarify the neutral venue plan. On Monday, Mayw 18th, the 20 EPL clubs will meet to vote on what is being called “Project Restart.” 14 of 20 clubs need to accept the plan for it to be put into effect.

Players are expected to resume training on Monday with social distancing in effect and “return to training protocols” that include twice weekly testing of players.

For the time being, The Telegraph is reporting Brighton, Aston Villa, and Watford are on the record with their opposition, and West Ham United, Norwich, and Bournemouth are also believed to be against the Project Restart timeline.