Sport will not resume in England until June

Bad news for professionals and sports enthusiasts in the UK. The hope of an imminent restart of the sports season seems to have been curtailed by the British government, which has said that there will be no professional sport, even behind closed doors, in England until at least June 1.

The government’s roadmap, “Our Reconstruction Plan: The UK Government’s Recovery Strategy COVID-19”, to get out of the lockdown, imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus, was released on Monday afternoon, setting out the conditions in which various activities can be carried out safely.

The second stage of the roadmap, which cannot begin before June 1, includes “allowing cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors for dissemination while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contacts”.

However, reopening football sites that attract large crowds “will not be fully possible until much later, depending on the reduction in the number of infections,” the diagram says.

On the football side, Premier League clubs are expected to meet on Monday to continue discussions on “Project Restart” after the league suspended the season on March 13 with 92 games remaining. Plans are in place to resume action no earlier than June 8.