Premier League clubs vote to return to training in small groups
Clubs have been conducting individual training for the last few weeks
Written by Training Ground Guru — May 18, 2020
PREMIER LEAGUE shareholders have voted unanimously to return to small-group training from tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday 19th) as the first step towards restarting the competition.
The Return to Training Protocol, which has been put together by the Project Restart working group, enables squads to train in groups of up to five players with three members of staff, while always maintaining social distancing.
This first stage was agreed in consultation with players, managers, Premier League club doctors, independent experts and the Government.
“Strict medical protocols of the highest standard will ensure everyone returns to training in the safest environment possible,” the Premier League said in a statement.
“The health and wellbeing of all participants is the Premier League’s priority, and the safe return to training is a step-by-step process. Full consultation will now continue with players, managers, clubs, the PFA and LMA as protocols for full-contact training are developed.”
As TGG has previously reported, players will have to change and shower at home, while communal areas such as showers, gyms and canteens will remain closed.
There will be no tackling or "congested training", only "unopposed technical activity". You can read the protocol - which is almost identical for both the Premier League and EFL - in detail HERE.
Testing was piloted by Wolves last week before being rolled out across the Premier League. Players and key staff will be tested twice a week and there are due to have been a total of 1,600 tests across the league by the end of this week.
Clubs have also been told they could be asked to share performance data from training, as there have been concerns about clubs breaching the training protocols laid out by the Premier League.
Austrian league leaders LASK Linz face a possible points deduction after admitting breaching rules about training in small groups.
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