Government hold 'productive talks' with authorities over resumption of football
Return of sport must comply with government guidelines
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden says he has held 'productive talks' with governing bodies from across British sport regarding a possible resumption following the coronavirus shutdown.
Almost all sport across the globe has been suspended and an imminent return looks unlikely, particularly in England where the country will remain on lockdown for at least another two weeks.
But other nations are beginning to ease restrictions, including in Germany where the Bundesliga is planning to resume next month, and while it's too early to give any specific detail, the UK government are also keen for sport to return when it's safe to do so.
“We have had productive talks," said Bowden. "We must be content that it sends the correct signal but within that we have been involved in some constructive discussions.
"We have already engaged with the police, Public Health England, the Local Government Association and others. We’re progressing this.
“We want to get to a point where we’ve bottomed out with this work, dealt with all the practicalities of it, then if the wider circumstances permit we would seek through Cobra and others to do it. That is not what we’re talking about right now, but we want to make sure we do all the preparatory work.
"I would just want to make sure that the signals we were sending from that were consistent with the signals that we were sending to the public more broadly.
"So I think it is sensible at this stage to have the engagement, to think through it, but I've been clear in all the conversations I've had that all of this is without prejudice so let's do the work and then we will make the decision at the appropriate point - clearly, number one, in accordance with the scientific evidence."
Dowden also believes the Premier League should make some matches free-to-air if they are played behind closed doors.
“I’ve raised this challenge to the Premier League in the conversations I’ve had with them," he added.
“I have said to the Premier League it wouldn’t send the best signal if they were one of the first major sports to resume behind closed doors and the public at large couldn’t have access to it.”