Marchisio Boateng
The English Premier League is yet to resume after close to 3 months with the COVID-19 pandemic halting the league.
With plans to complete the current season still ongoing, there are lot of restrictions that will come to play to ensure safety of the players and everyone involved.
Matches will be played behind closed doors with fans pinned to just watching from their various homes.
The German Bundesliga announced that matches will resume with fixtures starting on 16th May with similar restrictions.
With the new restrictions, people needed at every Premier League game will include:
1. CLUB STAFF (72+) (40 players, 32 coaching/medical staff, plus other club staff and directors)
2. OFFICIALS (12) (6 match officials, 3 Hawk-Eye, 3 VAR)
3. PREMIER LEAGUE STAFF (3) (1 matchday coordinator, 1 match delegate, 1 match manager)
4. MATCHDAY STAFF (16+) (6-8 tunnel doctor and other medical personnel, 4 doping control, 4 to move matchday furniture, plus screen and scoreboard operators, plus ground staff)
5. MEDIA (130+) 77-100 TV and radio staff, 28 written press, 2 photographers, plus club media
Some of the restrictions will include:
- Friday evening will see players arrive at their team hotels to stay together before a match.
- Plenty of security will be present to ensure that fans stay away from the Premier League stadia.
- The groundsmen will be among the first to arrive at the stadium to tend to the pitch.
- Referees will arrive separately and get themselves ready in a room away from the players.
- Players will head straight to their disinfected dressing room ahead of the match.
- Sanitising stations will be everywhere for the players to use before, during and after the game.
- Interviews may take place on pitch at full-time but there will be no mixed zone for journalists.
- Some members of the team staff will arrive early to prepare the dressing rooms for the players.
- A few photographers will have also arrived at the stadium, but not in their usual numbers.
- At half-time, the players will make their way back down the tunnel – one team at a time.
