Premier League contemplates shorter matches

The Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Gordon Taylor has revealed that shorter matches are being considered as part of plans to restart the 2019/20 season gathers momentum.

The 2019/20 Premier League season was suspended in March as a result of the corona virus pandemic but plans are believed to be on ground for the season to resume in June.

World football governing body, Fifa is proposing allowing extra substitutions to help players cope with greater fixture congestion after a break without training or competition.

Taylor has now revealed that said games of less than 45 minutes each have also been discussed.

“We don’t know the future,” Taylor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday.

“What we do know is what propositions have been put, what ideas have been put: the possibility of having more substitutes, games possibly not being the full 45 minutes each way, there’s talk of neutral stadiums – there’s lots of things being put forward.

“Try to wait and see what the proposals are and then have the courtesy to let the managers and coaches and players also assimilate all those and come to a considered view,” he said.

Taylor said a protocol for football’s return, drawn up in conjunction with medical experts and the UK government, was due to be put to players and coaches as early as possible next week and would be looked at club by club. He indicated that players would be allowed to decide whether they wanted to play.

“Of course they are concerned about their own safety – they are not stupid – and neither are they naive, so they would have to be satisfied that it is safe to return and it is their choice,” Taylor said.

Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero has said he and the majority of players are scared about playing amid Covid-19 and taylor took the time to address the Argentine’s concerns.

“Sergio is a top-class player and is entitled to his opinion, of course,” Taylor said. “It’s not a question of being scared, it’s a question of being fully informed and for the relevant authorities to try to make sure it’s as safe as it possibly can be to return.

“The very fact that you are in professional sport you need to be very resilient and you need to be able to bounce back because you will get more setbacks than you will good times.

“I would like to think that’s how my members are, so it remains in process and we shall just have to wait and see and look at it on a day-by-day basis and see if it’s achievable,” he concluded.