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Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said that the 20 top-flight clubs discussed the cancellation of the 2019-20 season for the first time during talks on Monday aimed at finding a way to resolve the current campaign, which has been suspended since March 13.
With the UK government giving professional sport the green light to resume competitive action from June 1, the Premier League is targeting June 8 as a potential date to restart the campaign, which has nine matchdays still to play.
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English football’s authorities — the Premier League, EFL and Football Association — will meet with the government to discuss their plans in detail on Tuesday.
However, with no firm plan yet resolved in terms of a return to action due to disagreements over the prospect of games being played at neutral venues for the remainder of the season, clubs have now raised the possibility of the season being halted and decided by non-playing methods — such as current positions or average points-per-game.
“I’m happy to reveal it [curtailment of season] was discussed for the first time, but the contents of that discussion have to remain confidential,” Masters told the media after Monday’s four-hour video conference.
“It’s still our aim to finish the season obviously, but it’s important to discuss all the options with our clubs. What I can say is that all of the talk was about finishing the season. No conclusions were reached on any other models.
“Those are future conversations we may need to have. There was a desire to see all the different implications, the adaptations, if you like, to the Premier League model as we know in order to play out the season and then discuss what the fairest way forward is.”
Masters, meanwhile, confirmed that clubs have been given permission to extend the contracts of players whose current deals are due to expire on June 30.
“Obviously this issue has been highlighted and we’ve discussed it at the last two meetings — but we’ve been working as far as possible to ensure that clubs complete the season with the same squad they had prior to the suspension,” he said.
“What was agreed is that players can extend their contracts beyond June 30 until the end of the season, but it must be agreed by both parties and a later date can be scheduled for that — no later than June 23.”