Premier League ‘as confident as we can be’ about June return

The Premier League is “as confident as we can be” about restarting in June, says chief executive Richard Masters.

Players resumed training on Tuesday, the day it was announced there had been six positive tests for coronavirus across three clubs.

The Premier League, suspended on 13 March, had previously identified 12 June as a possible restart date.

“We’ve taken the first step,” Masters told BBC Sport.

“It’s great for everybody, including the fans, to see our players back on the training ground.”

Asked what date the Premier League was targeting for a return, Masters said it must be “flexible” and can learn from the resumption of the Bundesliga last weekend.

He also recognised the need for “contingency plans” and said “curtailment is still a possibility”, meaning the season would be ended.

Phase one of the return to training features small groups training with social distancing maintained.

On Wednesday Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said phase two – the return of contact training in elite sports – could get government approval “later this week”.

Masters said the Premier League will not take this next step until it is safe to do so.

“We wouldn’t have taken the first step to get back to training if we weren’t convinced we had created a very safe environment for our players,” he said.

“It is the first step and we have to be sure when we go to contact training we have completed those processes.”