The English Premier League players will not be required to wear masks while arriving at the stadiums and in the dressing rooms or while being on the substitute bench when the top-flight competition starts next week after a suspension of more than three months due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 20 Premier League clubs on Thursday agreed on the matchday protocols. According to the protocols, the stadiums will be divided into red, amber and green zones to avoid a probable outbreak of the coronavirus. The venues will be open for only around 300 people everyday and all of them will have their temperatures checked on arrival, reported news agency AP.
The red zone includes the field and the immediate nearby areas and only 110 people will be allowed there. They will have to provide a COVID-19 negative certificate for the previous five days to enter the area. They include players, coaches, medical staff, match officials, pitch technicians and Hawk-eye personnel for goal-line and video replay technology.
Also, the teams are being engaged to travel on the matchdays instead of staying in hotels. The teams can also be seen travelling on two buses to maintain social distancing. The players have been directed to maintain a distance of two metres wherever it is possible.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom government in the last week of May gave the Premier League the approval to resume the 2019-20 season on June 17 but asserted that all the health guidelines and social distancing measures be strongly adhered to.
The government, in fact, gave a green light to all forms of sports to restart from June 1 as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published the ‘Stage Three’ guidance.
The revised list of fixtures were released earlier this week that will see Aston Villa and Sheffield United taking on each other in the first Premier League match after the COVID-19 lockdown on June 17. Later in the day, Manchester City and Arsenal will also face each other.