The
UK government has released its 'phase two' guidance for athletes and elite
sportsmen and women to make a phased return to close-contact and competitive
training, provided individual sports "have the appropriate carefully
controlled medical conditions in place".
Public health officials and sports medical officers have contributed to the
guidelines which permit organised and close-contact training to take place
under carefully controlled medical conditions.
Premier League footballers have already returned in socially distanced small
groups but clubs now face a key vote on Wednesday over contact training.
Key week for the Premier League
Tuesday: Premier League will discuss updated government advice on contact
training with club captains, managers and representatives from PFA and LMA
Wednesday: Premier League clubs will vote on whether to resume contact
training.
Thursday: Clubs meet again to discuss broader details of Project Restart -
including contingency talks on how curtailment of the season would look.
The official advice, aimed at helping competitors reach fitness levels
required for matches, says close-contact training for elite athletes can
include coaching and tackling in team sports within a two-metre distance.
The guidelines clarify: "Stage Two training can be described as the
resumption of close contact (interaction within the two-metre social
distancing boundary) training where pairs, small groups and/or teams will be
able to interact in much closer contact (e.g. close quarters coaching,
combat sports sparring, teams sports tackling, technical equipment sharing,
etc)."
On May 13, the government published its 'phase one' guidance, which advised
adherence to strict social distancing.
'Stage three' of the government's protocols are expected to centre around a
return to professional sports in June.
'Individual sports must review before
proceeding'
The government stressed that the decision to implement the latest guidelines
will be the responsibility of the respective sports bodies and clubs, in
consultation with athletes, coaches and support staff.
In socially distanced environments, sailing and taekwando have also made
steps towards resuming competitive action, while other Olympic and
Paralympic disciplines are yet to make decisions over a return.
Sports minister Nigel Huddleston said: "This new guidance marks the latest
phase of a carefully phased return to training process for elite athletes,
designed to limit the risk of injury and protect the health and safety of
all involved.
"We are absolutely clear that individual sports must review whether they
have the appropriate carefully controlled medical conditions in place before
they can proceed, and secure the confidence of athletes, coaches and support
staff.
"Given the wide-ranging input we have received from medical experts, we
believe these pragmatic measures should provide further reassurance that a
safe, competitive training environment can be delivered, as we work towards
a restart of professional sport behind closed doors when it is safe to do
so."
The current social-distancing rules will continue to apply during travel to
training, equipment-sharing will be avoided where possible, and communal
areas will mostly be expected to remain closed.
Top-level sport in England could restart behind-closed-doors from June 1 but
spectators may not be able to attend venues until a coronavirus vaccine is
found.
'11 v 11 training still some days away'
Sky Sports News reporter Geraint Hughes on the return of
close-contact training at Premier League clubs:
This is a very positive step in the journey towards the resumption of sport
and contact training does literally mean that, but you're not going to have
training sessions at the various facilities up and down the country with 11
v 11.
There is very much an onus on the individual sports, and also on the medics
at clubs and COVID-19 officers. They have risk assessments to do and risk
mitigation as well.
Step one was training on an individual basis with social distancing. Step
two now allows contact training, so you can go within two metres but only
during training sessions and only for the absolute minimum time required.
Initially they'll probably do it in groups of two to three players, that's
the advice that's been given by government, and slowly progress to towards
larger groups of four to 12 players and ultimately 11 v 11 - but we are
still some days from that happening.
Positive tests in football
Meanwhile, the second batch of testing for Premier League teams returned two
more positive tests from two separate clubs, with top-flight sides remaining
on course for a behind-closed-doors return to matches next month.
Premier League CEO Richard Masters said on Friday that curtailment of the
2019-20 season "is still a possibility".
The third round of tests are due to take place on Monday and Tuesday, ahead
of a key vote on Wednesday over contact training, subject to government
approval.
A handful of Premier League players, including Troy Deeney, Danny Rose and
N'Golo Kante, have either voiced concerns about returning to training on the
basis of health reasons or are not taking part in sessions.
Two positive cases at Hull City have been recorded following the 1014 tests
which were undertaken at all 24 EFL Championship sides ahead of clubs
returning to training on Monday, while no testing system is currently in
place in Leagues One and Two.
Analysis: 'Most crucial week so far' for
Premier League return - Supplement
The Premier League faces its "most crucial week so far" when it comes to a
potential restart, with plans to step up training "in the balance,"
according to the
Sunday Supplement panel.
Top-flight players have returned in socially distanced small groups but
clubs face a key vote on Wednesday over contact training, subject to
government approval.
Will a positive test percentage of 0.45 so far reassure players? How big a
factor could the psychological barrier be when it comes to returning to
action? And is season curtailment still an option?
Sunday Supplement guests Jason Burt, chief football correspondent at The
Telegraph, Shaun Custis, head of sport at The Sun and The Times' sport
writer Alyson Rudd joined Geoff Shreeves to discuss the latest challenges
for a return to Premier League action.
Lewin: How long will it take for players
to get fit?
The answer, as you'd expect, is complex. But there is one underlying
consensus: match fitness is almost impossible to reach without competitive
games.
Speaking on Monday's The Football Show, former England physio Gary Lewin
outlined the complexities of returning to fitness, namely the differences
between physical fitness and match fitness.
"The biggest issue they've got is getting them up to speed physically
without the group sessions and contact sessions," Lewin said. "Normally in a
pre-season you would start off with a couple of weeks of very light
training, close contact rather than full contact, and then building up into
contact sessions.
"You work on a players' strength, power, and reaction times, and then you go
into contract training and friendlies, slowly building up the competition
and intensity over a six to eight-week period.
"The uniqueness of this situation is that they have gone through their
physical phase, what you'd call park running in phase one, and then they're
going into phase two, where there is still no contact with social
distancing, but trying to do some work with the football, and then they're
going into full contact.
"They're going to miss out on the general conditioning of falling over,
getting up, colliding with players, and that side of the game that you only
get with intense training sessions and friendly matches, so there are going
to be a few problems."
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