Government working with Premier League on plans to restart when safe

Professional football in England has been suspended since March 13, with no date fixed for it to return.

The Covid-19 outbreak means that if football is able to resume, it will almost certainly do so behind closed doors for the foreseeable future.

Brighton's last match in the Premier League was their 0-0 draw at Wolves on March 7. Graham Potter's men are currently two points above the relegation zone and have nine fixtures remaining.

How the league plans to conclude the season remains unclear.

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden, speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said discussions were taking place but stressed again that scientific advice would be key to any resumption.

"In response to future events, we are working with the relevant sporting organisations to understand their plans," he said.

"They have to do it consistent with the scientific evidence and we are helping them to understand whether it is possible for events to go ahead.

"For example, I've had conversations with the Premier League and others. But we have been clear throughout all of it that the Government will not consent to events taking place unless we can be sure it is safe to do so."

Premier League clubs met last Friday to look at scheduling models for how the season could be completed, with clubs still committed to completing the 2019-20 season in order to fulfil broadcasting deals and maintain the integrity of the competition.

Albion chairman Tony Bloom said, "From our point of view and I think the majority of the Premier League clubs, we would very much like to finish the season.

"I know we’re in a position close to the relegation zone. But, for the integrity of the league, it would be very good to finish it. But there are significant issues, particularly as time goes on, and we don’t see football continuing in the short-term.

"There are still huge amounts of people having the virus, hospitals under a lot of pressure. It wouldn’t be appropriate at this time. So we’re obviously waiting to hear. The Premier League’s in constant contact with the Government and the health officials."

Dowden was questioned on Good Morning Britain about whether the Government had been too slow to impose a ban on mass gatherings, with the Cheltenham Festival allowed to go ahead between March 10 and 13 and the Liverpool v Atletico Madrid Champions League tie being played in front of supporters on March 11.

"The scientific evidence we were being given was that, at a mass gathering, the threat at a mass gathering relates to the people who immediately surround you - the people in front of you and behind you," he said.

"The risk at mass gatherings was no greater or less than it would have been in pubs or restaurants, and the advice at that point was that we did not need to ban mass gatherings."

Asked whether the advice was wrong, the Cabinet minister replied: "As the situation developed, the scientific advice changed and we changed our guidance off the back of it.

"But mass gatherings are not different to any of those other events I described and at the appropriate moment we took the decision to close pubs, to close restaurants."

Dowden also reiterated that sports teams should only look to take advantage of the Government's coronavirus job retention scheme to furlough staff as "a last resort".