Premier League Changes Terms Of Application For Suspension Of Matches From One To 4 Positive Cases Of COVID-19

Illustration of the Premier League (Twitter @premierleague)

JAKARTA - The English Premier League operator has tightened the requirements for applying for a match suspension to a minimum of four active COVID-19 cases among players of a team.

In general, the Premier League will continue to suspend matches if one team does not have 13 field players and one goalkeeper from its squad, as well as players at the age group under 21 years (U-21) who are considered to have experienced playing for the senior team.

The difference, in the old rules that have been implemented since mid-December 2021 in response to the spread of the Omicron variant, is that a team may apply for the suspension of the match if they have at least one active case of COVID-19 among players.

Quoted from Antara, Thursday, January 27, the changes to the rules were agreed upon by all participating Premier League clubs and will take effect on February 5 when the 17th week of the postponed match between Burnley and Watford is scheduled.

The old rule has been put in place to suspend at least 22 matches in December 2021 and January 2022, including the Burnley vs Watford match which will take place in early February.

The match was originally scheduled to take place on the weekend of 18-19 December 2021 and was postponed due to the Watford squad experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases.

The match was then rescheduled to be played on 18 January 2022, but again had to be postponed as this time it was the Burnley squad's turn to suffer from the COVID-19 disruption.

The old rules for the suspension of matches related to COVID-19 had received the attention of many parties, such as Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel who questioned the transparency of each team.

Most recently, the rules were questioned after the Premier League granted Arsenal's request to suspend the London derby at Tottenham Hotspur on January 16, which surprised the hosts.