Could they void the PL due to the Coronavirus? | No | Resuming June 17th
- Thread starter Tarrou
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Per the athletic fifa have indefinitely extended the season. Contracts extended and transfer window to be moved
Read the same. And while that's nice to hear and all, it's still hinging on the condition that it's safe for everyone to play again.
Sounds like a legal nightmare. FIFA imposing that playing contracts are extended beyond July when plenty of teams will have already accounted for players being released.
FIFA to extend 2019-20 football season indefinitely
Simon Hughes
FIFA is to confirm an indefinite extension to the 2019-20 season across the globe, allowing each country’s football authority to determine when campaigns can finish.
The game’s world governing body will also alter the dates of the summer transfer window and permit contract extensions for players whose deals run out on June 30.
The plans, which are likely to be revealed in the next 48 hours, will afford maximum flexibility with FIFA appreciating the spread of coronavirus is different in each country. This comes after UEFA last week committed to finishing the current season and was moved to deny a report that its own president, Aleksander Ceferin, had set a deadline of August 3 to complete all outstanding games.
While the decision from the highest authority in football does not take null and void off the table, it considerably reduces the chances of seasons being cancelled altogether. The planned announcement was greeted by one Premier League club as “really sensible” with it removing the pressure to conclude the season at a time when the world is dealing with a pandemic.
The Athletic understands timeframes were not discussed at great length in Friday’s meeting between Premier League clubs. There are significant fears that the 20 sides may yet need to repay £762 million to broadcasters should the season not be completed, with The Athletic revealing last week that the determination to finish the campaign even led to one idea of taking games to China.
Insiders at a number of clubs say a reality seems to have finally dawned over the past week that, while ideas can be formulated for different scenarios around scheduling, until the outbreak passes over the top of the curve nobody will really be able to plan with confidence.
While some Premier League clubs accept that there might be no option other than to resume seasons behind closed doors or even at neutral grounds in other “safe” countries, other clubs believe football should only return when fans are able to enter stadiums.
It is on this battleground that the next debate in England is likely to be had, especially as some Football League clubs are concerned about extending contracts if there is no clear date for a return to football, knowing that they will have to carry out paying money with no signs of standard streams of income in that period.
The situation with football contracts is a complex one, as my colleague Matt Slater explained. One manager of an EFL club told The Athletic over the weekend that he has 13 players out of contract in June and ten of those contracts are unlikely to be renewed.
Some of his concerns related to the focus of his team and therefore the integrity of the league, considering he would have to ask a number of players to perform for him when they know they might not have jobs in the near future.
He was also worried about the length of the next transfer window, questioning whether it would be long enough for him to sign enough players to be able to register a squad for the 2020-21 season.
The Premier League summer transfer window is due to end on September 1 at 5pm and in February the EFL announced an “agreement in principle” to return to a traditional deadline day at the end of August.
The Athletic also revealed how the Premier League’s hopes of striking a deal to secure 30 per cent wage deductions or deferrals from players were in peril on Saturday night as footballers became increasingly concerned that agreements may benefit club ownerships more than non-playing staff or the emergency services. Discussions are expected to resume this week.
Simon Hughes
FIFA is to confirm an indefinite extension to the 2019-20 season across the globe, allowing each country’s football authority to determine when campaigns can finish.
The game’s world governing body will also alter the dates of the summer transfer window and permit contract extensions for players whose deals run out on June 30.
The plans, which are likely to be revealed in the next 48 hours, will afford maximum flexibility with FIFA appreciating the spread of coronavirus is different in each country. This comes after UEFA last week committed to finishing the current season and was moved to deny a report that its own president, Aleksander Ceferin, had set a deadline of August 3 to complete all outstanding games.
While the decision from the highest authority in football does not take null and void off the table, it considerably reduces the chances of seasons being cancelled altogether. The planned announcement was greeted by one Premier League club as “really sensible” with it removing the pressure to conclude the season at a time when the world is dealing with a pandemic.
The Athletic understands timeframes were not discussed at great length in Friday’s meeting between Premier League clubs. There are significant fears that the 20 sides may yet need to repay £762 million to broadcasters should the season not be completed, with The Athletic revealing last week that the determination to finish the campaign even led to one idea of taking games to China.
Insiders at a number of clubs say a reality seems to have finally dawned over the past week that, while ideas can be formulated for different scenarios around scheduling, until the outbreak passes over the top of the curve nobody will really be able to plan with confidence.
While some Premier League clubs accept that there might be no option other than to resume seasons behind closed doors or even at neutral grounds in other “safe” countries, other clubs believe football should only return when fans are able to enter stadiums.
It is on this battleground that the next debate in England is likely to be had, especially as some Football League clubs are concerned about extending contracts if there is no clear date for a return to football, knowing that they will have to carry out paying money with no signs of standard streams of income in that period.
The situation with football contracts is a complex one, as my colleague Matt Slater explained. One manager of an EFL club told The Athletic over the weekend that he has 13 players out of contract in June and ten of those contracts are unlikely to be renewed.
Some of his concerns related to the focus of his team and therefore the integrity of the league, considering he would have to ask a number of players to perform for him when they know they might not have jobs in the near future.
He was also worried about the length of the next transfer window, questioning whether it would be long enough for him to sign enough players to be able to register a squad for the 2020-21 season.
The Premier League summer transfer window is due to end on September 1 at 5pm and in February the EFL announced an “agreement in principle” to return to a traditional deadline day at the end of August.
The Athletic also revealed how the Premier League’s hopes of striking a deal to secure 30 per cent wage deductions or deferrals from players were in peril on Saturday night as footballers became increasingly concerned that agreements may benefit club ownerships more than non-playing staff or the emergency services. Discussions are expected to resume this week.
FIFA is to confirm an indefinite extension to the 2019-20 season across the globe, allowing each country’s football authority to determine when campaigns can finish.
The game’s world governing body will also alter the dates of the summer transfer window and permit contract extensions for players whose deals run out on June 30.
Nothing will be automatically be extended
can someone just ban this parasite and his disgraceful chums.
FIFA is the overseer right. So everything moves as per their edict? I'm ok for a vaccine to be prepared and resume this season in 2024.
ridiculous.
Im sick and tired of the focus being on the super rich clubs.
how on earth can you impose contract extension on lower league clubs. They will all need to be releasing players and they are running out of cash fast. Unilateral extension of contracts is an astonishingly bad idea and will lead to clubs going bust.
I can't see the present season being left in limbo such are the financial stakes. Money talks and if BCD is neccessary it'd happen. Scrapping it and just starting 2020/21 in August is wishful thinking, especially as social distancing measures will most likely continue into late summer.
Imagine a club relegated last season were still lumped with a high-salaried player they couldn’t shift in the transfer window and were counting on getting him off the books on the 30th of June. Now, in FIFA’s eternal wisdom, said club have to continue paying said player until August/September/October/insert your own arbitrary date here.
As you said, a complete legal nightmare.
So some clubs will have players who they have paid for this season up until June but cannot afford to pay any further, or the player quite within their legal rights has decided that they do not wish to return beyond their contract end in June.
Those teams will be without those players now for the rest of the season? What a shambles.
Fortunately they didnt say this, they just said they "will permit contract extensions", thats very different to actually extending everybody's contracts.
BCD only works for the PL, and its just too problematic with the potential for accidents, spreading of the virus, etc. Clubs are already under the PR hammer, can you imagine the fall out if a player has a car accident, or breaks a leg? What if a club has a covid problem and cant field a team? Clubs will be very wary of starting before things are very clear.
Only if you can't read. Nothing will be extended automatically (nor is that possible from a legal POV).
Any thoughts on a solution for team who unavoidably lose players that they have budgeted this season for and paid for? Let's not forget that it's not just wages, a player's value is amortised over their contract.
Correct
I'm not saying this is a great idea or anything, let's get that out of the way first. It's a legal minefield from a contractual law POV.
If you leave +1 contracts out of the equation (options which can be exercised unilaterally), either the club and player agree to extend the contract till the end of 19/20 season (or beyond that), or they don't come to an agreement and lose said player. A contract is between the player and the club, UEFA has no say in it and as far as I see it's only a "recommendation" from them to extend contracts to the end date of the season, cannot be enforced legally of course.
Just like with any solution, you'd have a shitload of grey areas. What if a few players refuse to extend but all others do? Seems like a form of distortion of competition to me. What with players who've already signed contracts elsewhere, e.g. Ziyech to Chelsea? Do Chelsea get compensation? Will Ziyech extend for 3 months on the same conditions as his current contract with Ajax? Can players who refuse to extend sign with other clubs? I don't know either.
As you mentioned it can indeed be a legal nightmare, but at the moment we can only comment on the potential solutions they bring forward. If they want to play out the 19/20 season they have to do something about the contracts, obviously, so good that they're already thinking about this stuff. Voiding the season would no doubt be a complete legal nightmare as well by the way, so whichever option we eventually go for, it'll just be the lesser of two evils.
From a contractual and legal POV I'm very interested to see what will happen.
Exactly and there's a whole load of other reasons which we will be missing.
The more they try to figure this out and iron it all out, the longer it's going to take and the more of an issue it will become. I can't see it being possible. It would require far too much goodwill in an industry where goodwill is rocking horse shite.
Well, I hope they have their ass covered if they void the season and don't take an "we'll see what the consequences are" approach because they're gonna be attacked with lawsuits as well in that scenario.
Hey bud! How are you and the missus holding up?
I have wondered about your post quite a bit recently. Not taking prize money into account (which seems to be the major factor the EPL wants to finish this season, IMO), how would it be possible for the league to get sued if they were unable to finish the season, and decided to void it (say, restart - no promotion/relegation - just to keep it simple)?
Wouldn't force majeure just about cover every single legal contract out there? I can't think of any court/judge who would rule in favor of a plaintiff because COVID-19 had the entire world on lockdown?
I reckon that proposed £750m will end up being the cheapest and most practical option as it would be open to negotiation and could result in the lifting of the 3pm rules to ensure that TV companies have more access to future matches per season.
There's no way Sky, BT and co will want to kill the goose that lays their golden eggs. At a time when players are already taking 30% pay cuts, staff are being furloughed and companies all across the UK are suffering from the economical impact, I'm not sure how much grounds the broadcasters would have to demand that they're compensated for lost business due to Covid-19.
The TV companies could then be putting next season in jeopardy. Lets say that they got everyone fit for the end of July to complete the season by September.
How much of a break do you then give the players?
Do they have a transfer window when promotion/relegation/european spots have been confirmed?
Will there be any point in confirming European spots this season if there is no European football?
With the qualifications roll over to the next season and if so what happens to next seasons qualifiers?
If they restart the season towards the end of September what happens with regards to the Euros? If they start in June and next season finishes a month late the players will have no time for a break and no time for international training.
Do they reduce the schedule and cancel one of or both of the cup competitions? Will they be sued by the broadcasters for that? What will happen to the lower league clubs that rely on the TV money from those cups?
If you void this season and restart it whenever next season starts, all those questions are resolved. Inevitably you will have lawsuits and compensation owed, just as you would in this scenario but the key thing is that practically and logistically there is no complications. Total reset, everyone knows exactly the position they were in last season and they start from there again.
And that is where the integrity argument that is so beloved of the dippers falls apart.
Doing fine for now - since she's kinda in "healthcare" she's a bit more paranoia about it than me, but friends and family still healthy
Hope the same goes for you?Obviously I don't know what's in the specific contracts so hard to tell who would sue in a "null and void" scenario. England is no civil law country so it'll probably be different from what we know here. Force majeure is implicitly included in contracts over here but parties still have to prove that they've done everything within their power (bonus pater familias) to execute their contractual obligations, which might be why they're at least making it look like they wanna finish the season. Still, I don't know whether the league as a whole works as a big contract or not. Do they have legal basis to just "cancel" a whole season (75% odd completed)? I don't know how exactly, but every side with a disadvantage based on a "null and void" decision will try everything possible to challenge that decision. That's why I said if they're gonna null and void, they should have a waterproof defense file (or at least be as sure as they can be).
yes. Curtail the league. Pre season and transfer window. Start afresh when we can.
this is the PL, the only thing that matters is money. You can be reassured that any decision made will have taken into account any legal issues and potential costs. the PL doesn’t care about anything else.
Add in Clubs that just won't exist if this continues for an extended period.
Simplistic and unrealistic view. What pre-season if players aren't allowed to train together? What transfers window if agents aren't allowed to meet in July or August, let alone players travelling internationally to get their medicals done and stuff?
This is dictated by the governments and health experts, and we'll have to see what's the best option when it can be considered to play again.
My suspicion is that is what all this is about, its about providing a defense for the contracts. They know clubs will come at them, but I think that might seem like a lesser evil right now, clubs will not want to be seen to go to court over COVID. I suspect the EFL/FA will try and assist any club with genuine issues.Doing fine for now - since she's kinda in "healthcare" she's a bit more paranoia about it than me, but friends and family still healthy
Obviously I don't know what's in the specific contracts so hard to tell who would sue in a "null and void" scenario. England is no civil law country so it'll probably be different from what we know here. Force majeure is implicitly included in contracts over here but parties still have to prove that they've done everything within their power (bonus pater familias) to execute their contractual obligations, which might be why they're at least making it look like they wanna finish the season. Still, I don't know whether the league as a whole works as a big contract or not. Do they have legal basis to just "cancel" a whole season (75% odd completed)? I don't know how exactly, but every side with a disadvantage based on a "null and void" decision will try everything possible to challenge that decision. That's why I said if they're gonna null and void, they should have a waterproof defense file (or at least be as sure as they can be).
I think they will hold on until the last minute to see if it could be played out, but I think most people are planning for worst case scenarios.
the PL and the behaviour of Liverpool and spurms have eroded the goodwill. The focus is purely greed and money. the focus and thoughts of these organisations are purely selfish and self centred.
For gosake.
curtail the season. Pause all football activities.
When it’s safe to do so, then start with a pre season and transfer window - 6 weeks later start the season.
that’s both simplistic (for Liverpool fans), and realistic.
A team literally sued another team over a dead player last year. I wouldn't hold my breath...
Feck off.The people that want to start a fresh miss one potentially crucial point. With the potential of a second wave next winter curtailing football once more, wouldn't it make more sense to finish this season when possible then worry about the next after as opposed to risking two voids on the spin?
Also the world cup being winter 2022 gives us a bit more wriggle room regarding the schedule (Uefa will happily move the Euro's if that means their current CL/ELs can be completed and the next one is done in full).
Also the world cup being winter 2022 gives us a bit more wriggle room regarding the schedule (Uefa will happily move the Euro's if that means their current CL/ELs can be completed and the next one is done in full).
Players dont seem happy about how everything is being handled and how they're singled out. Good luck getting them to extend their contracts and play with a virus around.
All good this side, bud. The missus is still also having to go in to work as she works with the kid whose parents are both doctors.Doing fine for now - since she's kinda in "healthcare" she's a bit more paranoia about it than me, but friends and family still healthy
Obviously I don't know what's in the specific contracts so hard to tell who would sue in a "null and void" scenario. England is no civil law country so it'll probably be different from what we know here. Force majeure is implicitly included in contracts over here but parties still have to prove that they've done everything within their power (bonus pater familias) to execute their contractual obligations, which might be why they're at least making it look like they wanna finish the season. Still, I don't know whether the league as a whole works as a big contract or not. Do they have legal basis to just "cancel" a whole season (75% odd completed)? I don't know how exactly, but every side with a disadvantage based on a "null and void" decision will try everything possible to challenge that decision. That's why I said if they're gonna null and void, they should have a waterproof defense file (or at least be as sure as they can be).
Yeah, I agree re the contracts. And i think that would be the overriding factor - as long as they've given themselves every possible chance of completing the season, and if they still can't - I can see a lot of pissed off people, but if we're fair and reasonable, we're basically in unprecedented times with the impact that this virus has had in terms of the world shutting down. Every possible solution comes with its own challenges i guess and finding the most fitting solution for the majority, should be the main priority.
It's like a day to day "oh..maybe they will finish this season"...and then "nah they can't because of xx and yy" this whole mess isn't it.
Nope, because by starting a fresh season they can also put in place the rules about how they can handle it if the second wave lands and affects it which will remove all the risk of legal challenges etc, the teams will be entering a new season with new rules that they’ve all agreed to in advance.
It is now clear that this season cannot complete on time. Even with the BCD concept, we will not be able start before August/September this year (if at all, we do), which also means the next season has to be curtailed in many ways, like clustering of several Premier League games and scrapping of early domestic cup fixtures.
From TV perspective, the next season is infinitesimally more lucrative than the slumbering virus-hit current season. The final few fixtures of this season will be extremely rushed if they go ahead and come at the expensive cost of squeezing an entire new juicy season. It makes no business sense to me! When channels start overfeeding and congesting content, people will have less interest. TRPs will anyway be low because half the usual audience will be looking for jobs or watching COVID-19 related stuff instead. Additionally, any prolongation of this season will drastically curtail the transfer window and the preseason preparation and all the gossips and confrontations and the adrenaline rush. This is also a big source of TV revenue.
I can only guess that beyond a certain time-point (say sometime in June), the TV channels will start reaching out to the Premier League to settle for an amicable termination of the current season so that the new one is unaffected (or less affected).
The only thing that is driving the Premier League to finish the current season is the huge refund of TV money. If there is an amicable solution to the problem, both parties win. If the Premier League push for a premature restart of football, they'll be only making more people angry. I am sure they are aware of it.
From TV perspective, the next season is infinitesimally more lucrative than the slumbering virus-hit current season. The final few fixtures of this season will be extremely rushed if they go ahead and come at the expensive cost of squeezing an entire new juicy season. It makes no business sense to me! When channels start overfeeding and congesting content, people will have less interest. TRPs will anyway be low because half the usual audience will be looking for jobs or watching COVID-19 related stuff instead. Additionally, any prolongation of this season will drastically curtail the transfer window and the preseason preparation and all the gossips and confrontations and the adrenaline rush. This is also a big source of TV revenue.
I can only guess that beyond a certain time-point (say sometime in June), the TV channels will start reaching out to the Premier League to settle for an amicable termination of the current season so that the new one is unaffected (or less affected).
The only thing that is driving the Premier League to finish the current season is the huge refund of TV money. If there is an amicable solution to the problem, both parties win. If the Premier League push for a premature restart of football, they'll be only making more people angry. I am sure they are aware of it.
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The problem is there may not be any TV money providers left after this nightmare. I have read people are closing their SKY accounts in droves, including myself, when this virus calms down a bit. They may well go under. This will also not be helped by an extremely unsupportive government & populace, who will want something done about these overpaid prima donnas.