Championship clubs fear Prem could force them to call season off with ‘no point’ in playing behind closed doors
A GROWING number of Championship clubs fear they are going to be left in the lurch by the Premier League’s rush to complete the season.
Uefa have set a May 25 deadline for European leagues to decide if they intend to play their current campaigns to the end.
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And while the top-flight clubs are pressing ahead with plans to get the remaining Premier League games played behind closed doors, most lower division teams are not in a position to return to action.
Premier League clubs will meet again on Friday to discuss the government’s ‘Project Restart’ plan to get football going again.
With more than £750million of TV revenue at stake, England’s elite teams are desperate to fulfil their fixtures so they do not have to make a massive refund to Sky, BT and BeIN Sport.
A number of clubs including Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and Brighton have opened their training grounds this week for their players to work individually.
And they hope to get the government green light to resume full training within the next fortnight with an eye to playing games again by June 8.
But an anxious Championship executive has told Sunsport: “There is absolutely no point in the teams from the EFL playing behind closed doors.
“The money we would get from our TV deal would not outweigh the cost of staging games without paying customers.
“Premier League clubs might be able to get access to coronavirus testing, but I doubt many teams at our level will have the same access.
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“There are still far too many health risks involved at the moment and I think many players and managers will be reluctant to rush back just for the sake of completing the season before the end of July.
“The problem is that if the Premier League is saying they can finish by mid-summer, how can the rest of us ask for more time?
“There is huge concern that they will just go it alone and force the lower league teams to call our seasons off.”