MAYOR of London Sadiq Khan believes it is still too early to see Premier League football return to the capital.
Top-flight chiefs are hoping to get the league back up and running as soon as possible, with the potential for matches to be played behind closed doors at neutral venues.
A number of clubs are unhappy with the idea of surrendering home matches, however – including London trio Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.
Either way the Premier League want to try and restart on June 12… although Khan’s stance only adds another impediment to what appears to be a stack of them.
Even if matches were to be played at neutral venues, the Emirates Stadium and the London Stadium are among the eight grounds to have been mooted.
And a spokesperson of Khan told the Standard: “Sadiq is extremely keen for the Premier League and professional sport in general to resume.
“However, with the country still in the grips of this crisis, and hundreds of people dying every day, he believes that it is too early to be discussing the resumption of the Premier League and top-flight sport in the capital.
“As a Liverpool fan, Sadiq of course wants the Premier League to return, but it can only happen when it is safe to do so, and it cannot place any extra burden on the NHS and emergency services.”
Leading football police officer Mark Roberts has told clubs in opposition of neutral grounds to “get a grip”, with PL bosses set to discuss venues with Secretary of State for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden on Thursday.
The Metropolitan Police will also be involved in the discussions, amid fears that fans will congregate outside grounds on matchdays.
And it has even been suggested that rather than just being for safety or fairness concerns, that the Gunners oppose the neutral venues idea because of sponsorship.
A number of players are against the Project Restart plans entirely at this stage, as they feel their health could be compromised.
Newcastle United loanee Danny Rose said on an Instagram Live: “It’s a f****** joke, I’m not even going to lie.
“The Government is saying bring football back because it’s going to boost the nation’s morale, I don’t give a f*** about the nation’s morale.
“People’s lives are at risk, you know what I mean?
“Football shouldn’t even be spoken about coming back until the numbers have dropped massively. It’s b*******.”
Raheem Sterling said on his YouTube channel: “The moment we do go back it just needs to be a moment where it’s not just for footballing reasons, it’s safe for not just us but the whole medical staff, referees.
“Until then, I’m not scared, but reserved and thinking what the worst outcome could be.”
His team-mate Sergio Aguero also previously had his say: “The majority of players are scared because they have family, they have children, they have babies.
“When we go back, I imagine we will be very tense, we will be very careful and the moment someone feels ill, you will think, ‘What’s gone on there?’”
And Khan has also echoed these concerns over player safety.
His spokesperson added: “Sadiq is also concerned about the welfare of players competing in all professional sports, not just football.
“There are huge questions to be asked how players could train safely, how they would travel to matches and how they could play competitive matches without the risk of spreading infection.”
Should the neutral venues proposal be rejected, 22 of the remaining 92 PL matches would be hosted in London, with a further five at Watford’s Vicarage Road.
