THE RESTART PROJECT.
The Premier League is back. Nothing sounds much better than this. Football fans all over the world on the 17th of June, 2020, witnessed the return of the world's most watched football league competition back on the screens after a 100-day hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world.
On the 11th of March, 2020, hours before the game between the Manchester City versus Arsenal game at the Etihad, the match was postponed till the 4th of April, 2020 as a precautionary measure after it emerged that the coach of the visiting team, Arsenal had contracted the coronavirus likely from a meeting with owner of the Greek champions, Olympiacos who were in London for a Europa League tie which Olympiacos won. The Premier League was heavily criticized for planning to go ahead with the aforementioned game as leagues around Europe had been stopped due to the rising cases all across Europe which was becoming the epicenter of the virus.
Sporting activities worldwide were postponed till a latter period, notably the Tokyo Olympics and Euros which were scheduled to hold this summer but have now been moved to 2021. Nobody, even the top dogs such as FIFA and UEFA were in a quagmire as to the next step to be taken.
Weeks in, week out, different solutions were being proffered such as nulling and voiding the season, ending the season as it stood based on current table places and the points-per-game system, amongst other. It received a lot of scrutiny and backlash as fans and clubs alike shared the view of restarting the season so as to protect the competition's integrity.
In the midst of the conundrum hovering over the Premier League, clubs introduced personal training routines for its players including treadmill runs, weights programmes, etc., so as to keep fit and ready for whatever time the season would resume again.
The Premier League new CEO, Richard Masters about the 'Project Restart' which included guidelines, rules and phases to be adhered to by all 20 EPL clubs but subject to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson. The Project Restart was thankfully, accepted and ratified by the Parliamentary as the country took baby steps to the return of normality and sporting activities. The Premier League was earmarked to restart on the 17th of June 2020, beginning with two of the outstanding fixtures to begin with, Aston Villa at home to Sheffield United and the Manchester City versus Arsenal game. Three phases were to be passed through and adhered to by all EPL clubs, beginning with non-contacts in line with physical distancing guidelines, regular testing, no spitting, etc. However, a lot of players expressed their discontent at the Project Restart citing safety fears of their family, personal background, contract disputes and financial interests, notably in the guise of Watford captain, Troy Deeney, Chelsea midfielder N'golo Kante and Aston Villa defender, Tyronne Mings.
Following series and weeks of training sessions, friendly games between teams in the same county and a massive windfall of tests with a total of 7,487 tests and only 14 players and staff testing positive across all 20 EPL clubs, the season was well and truly ready to get underway, the Premier League restarted with two fixtures which were not short of controversies. Sheffield United and Aston Villa played out a goalless draw with Sheffield United having scored a goal after a goal line scramble but the Goal Line Technology (Hawk Eye) failing to detect it, and post-game apologizing and citing the camera being obstructed by players, its first ever error in over 1,000 plus games in the Premier League. Later that evening, Manchester City defeated Arsenal with an emphatic 3-0 win, in a game which brought a lot of scrutiny on David Luiz, the Brazilian who came on midway in the first for his injured compatriot, Pablo Mari as he made an error leading to the opener by Raheem Sterling and fouling Riyad Mahrez in the second half in the penalty area and getting red carded in the process. The Premier League also stood behind global calls for the elimination of racism in the game and the world at large, after the death of American George Floyd murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, with a nice touch of making clubs print the words 'Black Lives Matter' on players' shirts and going one knee before kick-off of matches to be done by both players and officials alike.
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The Premier League is back but with some significant changes in respect to the pandemic, with socially distanced subs, no pre-match handshakes, no sharing of water bottles, five substitutions at three instalments so as to cope with injuries, etc. The return of the Premier League, undoubtedly is a welcome development and signifies baby steps to the return of normality in the world. The Premier League has begun and a bumper weekend of games await from 19-22 June with a lot at stake as the battles for the top 4 and relegation heat up with Manchester United, Chelsea, Wolves, Sheffield United, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich all up for a one of a kind season. Sit back and enjoy the most watched football league in the world with a bumper 92 games in 6 weeks!
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