All 20 Premier League clubs will meet this week and the Guardian report that a commitment to end the season by June 30 is among the things to be discussed.
There has been plenty of talk and speculation as to how the Premier League will go about finishing the season, with the league repeatedly insisting they are committed to ending the season.
The Guardian report states that one of the proposals that will be put to the 20 Premier League club in Friday’s meeting will be to end the 2019/20 campaign on June 30 – whether all matches have been completed or not.
Obviously this will raise some thorny issues from a footballing perspective. What will happen with the title? Will Liverpool be awarded it?
What about relegation? Will the bottom three all be relegated and the top three in the Championship promoted? There’s a lot to discuss.
That’s before you get to the issue of finances. If the season is incomplete, the Premier League will have to pay a lot of money back to broadcasters due to a breach in their agreement.
Although, on that front, news was revealed earlier this week that Sky will not ask for their money back from the Premier League. However, there are plenty of other broadcasters who may not be as accommodating.
In the Guardian, their report states that one of the driving forces for the argument to get the season finished by June 30 is the contract issue.
A lot of players are out of contract at the end of June and despite FIFA’s guidelines last week that contracts should be extended in accordance with when the league will actually end, English contractual law could render those instructions moot.
In theory, when June 30 rolls around, if the Premier League have decided to continue playing into July, every player out of contract can merely refuse to play.
For that reason, many of the clubs are seriously considering this proposal from the Premier League.
For the proposal to be passed, a majority 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs would need to vote in favour.
Should the proposal be approved, it seems very unlikely that the season will be finished given that most teams still have nine games to play, while four teams have 10.
In this instance, efforts to come up with a definitive Premier League table that satisfies everyone will surely be impossible.
The way things are going, it’s looking more and more likely the season will be declared null and void, thus allowing the teams to prepare for life as normal for next season.
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