Post by Webster on May 11, 2020 17:46:17 GMT
The Independent: Premier League clubs told 2019/20 season must be decided ‘on sporting merit’
-Read more: www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/pl-project-restart-coronavirus-latest-sporting-merit-relegation-a9508601.html
Miguel Delaney, Chief Football Writer - @migueldelaney
--The Football Association has told the Premier League clubs that the 2019-20 season must be settled by “sporting merit”, potentially splitting the six bottom clubs over how to finish the season.
It means that issues like relegation, top four and the title must be settled by either playing the remaining fixtures, or a mathematical formula based on games played, with a weighted points-per-game under consideration.
Voiding the season remains completely off the table. The announcement marked the first time that the possibility of curtailing the season was discussed at a Premier League meeting, but that is still just a contingency plan, as the primary aim is to complete the fixture list. The competition will go back to government on the possibility of using home stadiums, however, as the majority of clubs have asked to push this issue to the limit. All would naturally prefer to play their games in the restarted season at home, but many accept it is unlikely to be possible.
The announcement came at the very start of Monday’s crunch videoconference, and immediately took some of the expected tension out of the meeting. The Independent has been told that the FA’s hand was forced by the amount of politicking over ‘Project Restart’ in the last few weeks, and felt the need to act.
The governing body’s board came to unanimous agreement on the decision.
It effectively means it is now in the interest of the bottom three clubs – Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich City – to play the remaining fixtures, regardless of the conditions, as they would be more likely to get relegated in the event of a mathematical formula being used. That is not the case for those above, and means the bottom six could be split.
That group of clubs had recently been unified in their opposition to playing in neutral grounds, even though that had been a non-negotiable government condition on getting back playing. It led to suspicion among some figures in the game that the bottom six were playing for time, especially since Uefa have set a 25 May deadline for decisions on how to complete the league.
The FA announcement has negated that and ensured there are now only two possibilities: play out the season, or settle it in another manner.
Such suspicions had meant many expected a fractious videoconference, but the decision took much tension away....
--The Football Association has told the Premier League clubs that the 2019-20 season must be settled by “sporting merit”, potentially splitting the six bottom clubs over how to finish the season.
It means that issues like relegation, top four and the title must be settled by either playing the remaining fixtures, or a mathematical formula based on games played, with a weighted points-per-game under consideration.
Voiding the season remains completely off the table. The announcement marked the first time that the possibility of curtailing the season was discussed at a Premier League meeting, but that is still just a contingency plan, as the primary aim is to complete the fixture list. The competition will go back to government on the possibility of using home stadiums, however, as the majority of clubs have asked to push this issue to the limit. All would naturally prefer to play their games in the restarted season at home, but many accept it is unlikely to be possible.
The announcement came at the very start of Monday’s crunch videoconference, and immediately took some of the expected tension out of the meeting. The Independent has been told that the FA’s hand was forced by the amount of politicking over ‘Project Restart’ in the last few weeks, and felt the need to act.
The governing body’s board came to unanimous agreement on the decision.
It effectively means it is now in the interest of the bottom three clubs – Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich City – to play the remaining fixtures, regardless of the conditions, as they would be more likely to get relegated in the event of a mathematical formula being used. That is not the case for those above, and means the bottom six could be split.
That group of clubs had recently been unified in their opposition to playing in neutral grounds, even though that had been a non-negotiable government condition on getting back playing. It led to suspicion among some figures in the game that the bottom six were playing for time, especially since Uefa have set a 25 May deadline for decisions on how to complete the league.
The FA announcement has negated that and ensured there are now only two possibilities: play out the season, or settle it in another manner.
Such suspicions had meant many expected a fractious videoconference, but the decision took much tension away....