Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson criticises Premier League return plan, calls it 'farcial'

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson has criticised the Premier League for planning to resume football amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that even if matches are played behind closed doors, there would be fans who would gather outside stadiums and added that not many fans would respect the lockdown and social distancing guidelines.

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Anderson criticizes 'farcial' plans of PL return

In an interview with an international media outlet, Anderson said that many fans would gather before matches and would also celebrate together. Anderson was skeptical about matches being played at neutral venues as well. Liverpool is closest to winning the Premier League in the last thirty years and led the Premier league table by 25 points with just nine matches.

Earlier, former Manchester United player Gary Neville had lashed out at the authorities for planning a restart to the Premier League. Neville told a media outlet that football wouldn't have been discussed above health if people were serious and that it was a big risk. 

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Tottenham became the latest Premier League club to open its doors to players on Tuesday as part of the "Project Restart" plan to finish the English top-flight season. 

Resuming matches on June 8 is reportedly among the ideas set to be discussed when the Premier League's key stakeholders meet on Friday. That would require full training to begin by May 18 and Premier League clubs are starting to work towards that date by giving players the option of using their training grounds.

Tottenham has followed Arsenal, West Ham, and Brighton in allowing players to use facilities for individual sessions that conform to social-distancing guidelines.

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"No more than one player per pitch will be permitted at any one time to undertake on-pitch exercise, with only a restricted number of the squad coming to the training centre each day," a Tottenham statement said.

"Each player will travel independently and arrive at the facilities already dressed in training wear before returning home immediately after they have concluded their session," the statement added.  

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(Image credits: twitter.com/mayor_anderson)