Watford chairman opposed to playing at neutral venues

Watford chairman Scott Duxbury has rejected plans to stage the remainder of Premier League matches at neutral sites.

Teams like Watford - who are three points off the relegation zone - would risk falling out of the league and losing hundreds of millions of pounds if they can't play at home, Duxbury argued in a strongly worded statement Saturday.

Watford famously beat Liverpool at Vicarage Road in February.

Duxbury said he suspects more than six Premier League clubs oppose Project Restart, which proposes all remaining 92 matches be played in centralized locations to simplify policing and allow for multiple games in one day.

At least 14 clubs need to vote in favor of Project Restart for it to be adopted, according to the Guardian's Paul Wilson.

"We have club medical staff working under conditions that no doctor or physio has ever experienced with guidelines that, in no small part, are based at this stage on supposition rather than scientific fact," Duxbury said. "And with all these compromises and health risks we are asked to finish a competition that bears no resemblance to the one we started, which could end a small club like Watford's time in the Premier League.

"So, is this fair? Does it have any semblance of sporting integrity? Of course not."

Duxbury said he favors the Bundesliga's approach. The German top flight will resume play May 16 behind closed doors, but clubs will continue to play home matches with strict hygiene protocol in place.

"Do the authorities seriously believe our clubs, in their own grounds, cannot deliver a safe environment for the 300 or so people involved in hosting a single Premier League match? Because, in the world of COVID-19, there is no such thing as an entirely safe environment wherever we play," Duxbury said.

Premier League clubs will meet Monday to voice their concerns about Project Restart.