The Premier League is finally returning! After more than three months of being out of the game, the English football league is finally set to kick off its current season once more and finally finish it. After being abruptly suspended due to the threat of the pandemic, the League is finally scheduled to have its first pick-up game on June 17, 2020.
With the suspension, some fans have waited patiently for its return. On the other hand, some found new hobbies related to football to keep them busy while the League is still out. Some have gone and wagered their money on Simulated Reality League (SRL) Betting. Regardless of the type of fan you are, here are all the things you need to know about the Premier League’s return.
Stadiums to feature cardboard “audience”
While most games will be played behind strictly closed doors, the Premier League is adapting an idea that other football languages have already done with great success. They are planning on having cardboard cut-outs of fans as audiences. This was previously done by the Bundesliga and the Australian NRL.
CEO Paul Barber explained that while they do not have any restrictions on which fan can have their cardboard cut-out featured as an “audience,” they are seeing that most requests are for fans of the League that died from covid-19 or at least the relative of fans that have died of the disease.
“We have had quite a few people where, for example, their father had been a Brighton supporter but had not had the chance to go to the Amex Stadium before he died, and is now going to have a cut-out of him there,” he told The Times.
In addition to this move, the Premier League also has previously announced that each game would have a “one minute of silence” before it starts. This will be done in honor of everyone who had fallen victim to covid-19 and succumbed to the disease. Everyone who have fought against the disease and died will be honored–both ordinary people and frontline medical workers alike.
Monitoring of staff and players
Players and staff of the Premier League have all agreed to strict monitoring in and out of the game. This is to ensure that everyone would be able to comply with the physical distancing measures even when outside of the game.
The League also did testing for covid-19. So far, only one person form all the teams of players and employees have tested positive. This was determined after the League have done mass testing on all of their players and staff from June 8 to June 9, 2020.
They managed to test a total of 1,213 people. The one person who tested positive has been put into proper isolation and is currently being given appropriate treatment. This entire measure was done as part of the precautionary measures that everyone in the League has to go through before the game officially reopens.
Other proposed changes
Aside from all of the things mentioned above, there are more changes that fans and players might see, should proposals for it get approved.
One proposal that is made was to increase the number of substitutions allowed per game and to allow more players on the bench as well. This proposal came from the concern that with too many games that are cramped in such a short period of time, players are at risk of being over exhausted. Thus, the solution proposed is to lessen the strain of each game on them by allowing more substitutions. On the other hand, concerns of unfair advantage on bigger teams have been raised as well.
