Project Restart in danger of being derailed as clubs disagree on neutral venues

Up to 12 clubs thought to be opposed to Premier League's plan to restart season

Liverpool's Sadio Mane celebrates scoring their second goal in the 2-1 win over Bournemouth, one of the last round of Premier League games at the beginning of March. To see the other matches that weekend, swipe the picture. Reuters

Leicester City beat Aston Villa 4-0 on March 9 in the last Premier League game to take place. Jamie Vardy celebrates after scoring the third goal. EPA

Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette scored the only goal against West Ham. Reuters

Brighton's Lewis Dunk (left) battles for the ball against Wolves during the 0-0 draw at Molineux. PA

Pedro of Chelsea celebrates after scoring his team's second goal in the 4-0 win over Everton. Getty

Anthony Martial scored the first in Manchester United's 2-0 win over rivals Manchester City. EPA

Crystal Palace's Jordan Ayew scores the goal in the 1-0 win against Watford. Reuters.

Sheffield United's Billy Sharp strikes in the 1-0 win over Norwich. Reuters

Newcastle United's Allan Saint-Maximin celebrates scoring their goal in a 1-0 win a Southampton. Reuters

Tottenham's Dele Alli scores their goal from the penalty spot in the 1-1 draw at Burnley. Reuters

The Premier League’s Project Restart is at risk of being derailed unless clubs can play at home with the use of neutral stadia meaning the season could yet be called off.

England's top flight has urged the police to reconsider their instruction that the remaining 92 games this season will have to take place at neutral venues, with up to 12 clubs thought to be opposed.

But they have postponed a final decision on whether to complete the campaign until May 18, when they will vote – with 14 clubs needed to be in favour of something – and Uefa urging domestic leagues to inform them of their plans to conclude the season by May 25.

Some clubs could vote against it because of the use of neutral venues, partly because of stadium sponsorship deals, and Premier League chief executive Richard Masters will raise the issue at a meeting with the British government this week.

Masters said: “I think everybody would prefer to play home and away if it all possible. It's clear to see some clubs feel more strongly about that than others.

"We have been talking to the authorities about the conditions in which we could get the Premier League back up and running. It is an ongoing dialogue.

"We are working flat out with clubs and stakeholders - the government, the FA, the EFL, the PFA and the LMA - to create a responsible, safe and deliverable model to complete the season."

The UK's senior football police officer, Mark Roberts, has been worried about fans gathering around grounds, even if they were not going to be allowed into them, but the division wants a rethink so it can follow the German Bundesliga, where clubs will play behind closed doors but at their own stadia.

Masters admitted the season might not be completed, adding: "It's the first time we've discussed curtailment. It's still our aim to finish the season obviously, but it's important to discuss all of the options with our clubs.”

Sixty-six Premier League players are out of contract at the end of June and Masters added: "What was agreed was that players can extend their contracts beyond 30 June, until the end of the season.”

At the start of a video conference meeting on Monday, the English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke told the Premier League that the season must be decided on sporting merit, meaning that they cannot render the campaign null and void or cancel relegation.

Relegation could only be abandoned by a tripartite agreement between the Premier League, the Football League and the FA and EFL chairman Rick Parry had already warned it would be “very messy” if they tried to stop three Championship clubs from going up.

It means that the sides at the foot of the table cannot form a gang of six to prevent anyone going down. Their plans had been nicknamed “Project Sabotage” amid a growing feeling they either did not want to play or to remove the consequences if they did.

A majority of clubs in the lower half were thought to be in favour of scrapping demotion this season but, in practice, it was thought to be Brighton & Hove Albion, West Ham United, Watford, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich City.

Instead, the latter trio, who are currently in the drop zone, have an incentive to play and try and get out of trouble.

The authorities offered some encouragement to sport as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in the House of Commons that the return of football “will provide a much-needed boost to national morale.”

The government published a road map for exiting the lockdown, saying there would be no professional sport in the United Kingdom before June 1, but opening the possibility for it thereafter.

The government said that, from the start of June, they would be “permitting cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact. To aid planning the government’s current aim is that the second step will be made no earlier than Monday 1 June, subject to these conditions being satisfied. Organisations should prepare accordingly.”

But they warned that games will have to take place without fans for quite some time, with a document stating: “It is likely that reopening indoor public spaces and leisure facilities [such as gyms and cinemas], premises whose core purpose is social interaction [such as nightclubs], venues that attract large crowds [like sports stadia], and personal care establishments where close contact is inherent [like beauty salons] may only be fully possible significantly later depending on the reduction in numbers of infections.”

The Premier League is set to study the lessons from the Bundesliga's comeback this weekend before voting while La Liga has said it hopes to return on June 12, despite five players in Spain's top two divisions testing positive for Covid-19, and to complete the campaign by July 31, with games played every day for six weeks.