Premier League to finally find out how many players have Covid-19 with results to come Monday after weekend of tests
THE Premier League will discover how many players have contracted coronavirus when they meet to vote on Project Restart on Monday.
All 20 top-flight teams have been tested for Covid-19 over the weekend — many for the first time — and should also receive the results on Monday.
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In the absence of an overwhelming number of positive diagnoses, the clubs will give their official backing to taking the first tentative steps out of lockdown on Sunday.
If all goes according to plan, every team in the top flight will return to training in small groups of five or less this week.
Yet while the majority of players and managers are ready to give a cautious green light to phase one of the plan, many are unconvinced about the next stage.
That will involve full contact training with an eye to resuming the Premier League fixtures on June 12 or June 19.
But some influential figures are pushing back against a mid-June return.
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has warned: “I don’t see how we can play games until the back end of June.
“We need at least six weeks to get the players back into shape and most managers have the same concerns.”
Watford’s Nigel Pearson is equally wary, claiming: “God forbid we have a fatality but people are closing their eyes to the threat.
“It’s got to be safe. We should be cautious and to ignore the possibilities is foolhardy.”
And if the managers are not rushing to get back to full training, the players are in even less of a hurry.
Manchester City and England star Raheem Sterling echoed Bruce, saying: “You’d need a full four to five weeks, especially if you’re going to go back into competition when you’re literally paid to win.
“You need to do that preparation — you can’t just go straight in. They’re trying to have games starting on June 12th but we are still waiting on the Government to give it the go ahead.”
West Ham defender Fabian Balbuena went a step further, warning: “There are players at my club who don’t want to play.
“If you ask every player, they will tell you they don’t want to return until it’s safe.
“Imagine if you play and a few days later they do a test and it comes back positive. You’re endangering everyone.”
Premier League chiefs are doing everything they possibly can to assuage those fears.
They will be testing 40 people from each team twice a week and will insist on anyone providing a positive test being placed into isolation for two weeks.
They have also introduced a stringent protocol manual explaining how every step of Project Restart will be controlled and monitored.
The procedures were explained to all 20 Prem managers and a player representative from each club last Wednesday.
But many within the game believe their concerns and opinions should have been taken into account long before the chief medical officers issued those proposals.
And they do not understand why they were only involved in the comeback discussions just five days before the vote to accept Project Restart.
Pearson said: “There’s been a lot of discussions with CEOs but they are about what happens from the point of view of a business model.
“But for the players and coaches and staff to been included towards the end of the break from playing . . . read into that what you want.”
Clearly there is a growing resentment that the people who are making all the big decisions about football’s return are not the ones who will be putting themselves at risk.
The club executives, who vote Monday, are not going to be anywhere near the training grounds or stadiums when Project Restart kicks in.
They will not be put into quarantine for a week ahead of matches nor asked to take twice-weekly coronavirus tests.
And the fact the players appear to have so little say in this absolutely crucial vote has only added to their scepticism.
Having already rebuffed the Premier League’s proposal to take a 30 per cent pay cut, the stars remain deeply suspicious of their employers’ motives.
They understand that failing to complete the season will create financial havoc for their clubs which could have major repercussions for them in future contract negotiations.
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Most are desperate to get back to playing the sport they love and are champing at the bit to break out of lockdown.
But they do not want to feel that their health is playing second fiddle to the owners’ money concerns.
Which is why they must be included in all the ongoing discussions to save English football.