The Premier League is set to return - behind closed doors - on Wednesday June 17th, it was announced yesterday. Aston Villa will play Sheffield United and Arsenal will face Manchester City, meaning all 20 teams have played 29 matches, before a full round of fixtures follow on the weekend starting June 19th. All 92 remaining fixtures are set to be shown live across the league's broadcast partners - Sky Sports, BT Sports, BBC and Amazon Prime. The BBC will show four matches free-to-air for the first time since the Premier League's inception in 1992. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "This date cannot be confirmed until we have met all the safety requirements needed, as the health and welfare of all participants and supporters is our priority."
Yesterday saw some of the finest hands, feet and minds in Irish sport come together for the second part of the IRFU's Analytica Zoom conference, in aid of Pieta House. And one of the highlights was Ireland boss Andy Farrell's discussion with Paul O'Connell and Dundalk manager Vinny Perth. Farrell, whose Ireland side had won two and lost one of their three Six Nations fixtures before the Championship was postponed due to the coronavirus crisis, looked to emphasise the importance of a Monday morning debrief. He said: "So on Monday you're not just trying to review, you're trying to make people feel better for a good start to the week and also to influence the plan for how you're trying to push forward for the rest of the week."
Elsewhere this morning Johnny Watterson has looked at the sporting events which went ahead as the coronavirus crisis started to flare in Ireland and the UK - namely the Cheltenham Festival, and Liverpool's clash with Atlético Madrid on March 11th, which saw the Spanish side dump their hosts out of the Champions League at Anfield. Both events lead to a spike in cases and deaths. He writes: "Sports organisations have not had a happy history in looking after their own. In time Anfield and Cheltenham 2020 will stand alongside Heysel, Ibrox and Hillsborough as avoidable catastrophes. Right now though, something is missing from the dialogue."
In today's entry into his lockdown diary, Andrew Porter has food on the brain, and writes about his daily eating habits: "Although I'm living with my dad and my two sisters, I don't eat breakfast, lunch and dinner – I have meals '1', '2', '3', '4'. I have my own set times outside family dinners and I do all my own cooking. . . Sometimes I allow myself a glass of rouge, especially with a good steak. I'm a Malbec man. You can't have 'this' without 'that'!"
And Mayo star Aidan O'Shea has discussed the difficulties of restarting Gaelic games at both club and inter-county level, and can see both sides of the equation when it comes to the question of professionalism. "Who's driving professionalism? Is it really the players and the boards or is it the expectation from the supporters and everyone else that is out there? Supporters want their teams to do the best, they want to see them competing. That space is expensive. I find it hard for the players in this argument. We're not asking for professionalism. We want to train and work as best we can as individuals, as a team and provide the best product on the football pitch."
