Report: Premier League accelerating plan to resume season on June 8
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The process of figuring out how to restart the Premier League season is expected to pick up steam this week.
As part of a plan labeled "Project Restart," Premier League clubs will discuss a proposal to begin playing matches on June 8 and wrap up by the end of July in order to comply with UEFA's plan to resume European tournaments later in the summer, according to BBC Sport's Dan Roan.
Talks over restarting the season are expected to intensify when Premier League clubs meet Friday, but the final decision will be dependent on authorization from Britain's National Health Service (NHS).
Additionally, matches will almost certainly take place behind closed doors.
As of Sunday, there have been over 150,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom and 20,732 related deaths.
With matches expected to take place behind closed doors, teams at Friday's meeting will reportedly examine which approved stadiums will be used, Roan added. There are decisions to be made over how many stadiums will be suitable to host matches and whether some games will be played at neutral sites.
Resuming the season in early June would likely require players to return to full training on May 18. Players have been limited to training by themselves since the season was suspended on March 13 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Arsenal reportedly notified players of plans to partially reopen their training facility beginning this week. It's understood that only a limited number of players and staff will be permitted inside the facility and that group sessions will be prohibited in adherence to government guidelines over social distancing.
Premier League clubs met earlier in April and agreed that they're committed to completing the 2019-20 campaign after examining scheduling models.
Meanwhile, German clubs have already returned to training as the Bundesliga season gets set to resume on May 9. Additionally, Serie A players will be permitted to return to team training on May 18 as Italy begins to ease its lockdown restrictions.