Premier League is to 'reconsider its COVID postponement rules'

Premier League is to ‘reconsider its COVID postponement rules after this weekend’s fixtures’ following uproar over controversial decisions to call off matches due to positive cases, injuries and AFCON absences

  • The Premier League will reportedly consider changing its postponement rules
  • It comes after uproar over controversial decisions to call off top-flight matches
  • The North London derby was called off after Arsenal were unable to field a team
  • League officials are now set to meet with clubs to discuss potential changes 

The Premier League is set to reconsider its rules on postponing games following a number of controversial decisions to call off matches in recent weeks.

Reports suggest that a Premier League meeting will be called with all 20 top-flight clubs after the next round of fixtures to discuss potential changes to the rule.

According to The Athletic, the Premier League hope the two-and-a-half-week break will provide clubs with enough time to get to grips with any changes to the rules.  

A statement from the league on Wednesday said: ‘The Premier League is consulting with our clubs regarding COVID-19 postponement rules and guidance in light of the changing national picture and the falling number of cases within our squads.

‘The league’s current guidance was amended in December following the emergence of the new Omicron variant and we continue to monitor the ongoing effects of the virus and will update our guidance accordingly.’

Premier League chief Richard Masters will reportedly reconsider postponement rules

A total of 21 games have been postponed, raising questions about the integrity of the league 

The Premier League have come under heavy criticism in recent weeks after some teams had games postponed due to Covid cases, injuries, suspensions and absentees due to the Africa Cup of Nations.

A total of 21 games have been postponed, raising questions about the integrity of the league. 

The most recent one was Sunday’s North London derby, which was controversially called off after Arsenal were unable to field a team for the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

Sunday’s north London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal was controversially postponed

The current rules dictate that a games will be postponed if one of the teams is unable to field 13 outfield players and one goalkeeper, so long as its ‘either from its squad list of its appropriately experienced Under 21 players’.

As per Premier League rules, detailed on their website, clubs must provide the following when applying for a match to be postponed:

  • Players and staff who have returned a positive COVID-19 test, their vaccination status and, if known, the source of their infections
  • Players and staff who are self-isolating
  • Players who are unavailable to play through injury or illness
  • Players listed on the club’s squad list who are still available to play in the match, including appropriately experienced Under-21 players (which includes Under-21 players who have played for the club, another Premier League or EFL club, or an overseas club in the current season. However, any Under-21 player who participates in a club’s FA Cup Round Three match and has not played in any other first-team competitions for the club this season will not be considered by the Board as appropriately experienced)
  • Supporting medical information to verify the status of each unavailable player, which will be reviewed by the League’s medical advisers

Arsenal, who had at least a dozen players unavailable because of positive Covid cases, injuries, suspension and international duty, had the request to postpone accepted.

This led to the likes of Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher to call out the Premier League for doing so, with Neville claiming the lack of transparency around Premier League clubs asking for matches to be postponed suggested many were now doing so for reasons other than the pandemic, which should not be allowed.

Gary Neville slammed the Premier League’s decision to postpone the North London derby

‘Game off (Tottenham v Arsenal). What started out as postponements due to a pandemic has now become about clubs not having their best team,’ Neville posted on Twitter.

‘The Premier League must stop this now, draw a line in the sand and say all games go ahead unless you have an exceptional amount of CV (Covid) cases. It’s wrong.’

Neville added: ‘I honestly believe that all teams, not just in the Premier League but in the EFL now, must be made to play their fixtures. 

‘Balogun has gone out on loan, Maitland-Niles has gone on loan, Xhaka has got a red card, that’s not the fault of anybody else. We can’t be calling fixtures off.’  

‘If it was purely down to Covid in extraordinary circumstances and there were 10 or 15 players out,’ he added. 

Mo Salah (right) and a host of Premier League players are playing at the Africa Cup of Nations

‘But we’re now talking about teams for the last few weeks where there’s no doubt they’ve been calling games off based on whether they think they’ve got the best squad or team to win a game. It’s got to stop.’

Neville insisted that he was not singling Arsenal out as the sole culprits but believed that their request ahead of the north London derby should be rejected. 

‘And I have to say that’s not a dig at Arsenal,’ he said. ‘I should have spoken three or four weeks ago. Manchester United, other teams, have got 30 or 40 players in their squad, I’m not having that they can’t get 14, 15, 16 players together. 

‘And so for me it should be rejected. Without knowing the exact detail, unless there’s an absolute load of Covid cases come in today at Arsenal, I feel having played last night at Liverpool and played fantastically well by the way, it has to stop now. They have to make teams play.’ 

Granit Xhaka will now be able to play in the North London derby after serving his suspension

However, Ian Wright has taken issue with Neville’s previous stance on the matter, suggesting the ex-Manchester United player was more concerned about Super Sunday going ahead for his employers Sky Sports than fans. 

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte claimed the postponement crisis left the season in a mess and says he has never worked in a league willing to call off games due to injuries.

Conte also hit out at the Premier League for causing ‘big damage’ to Tottenham by their initial refusal to reschedule their trip to Leicester — originally due to be played on December 16 — which ultimately led to his club being kicked out of Europe.

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte claimed the postponement crisis has left the season in a mess 

Conte said: ‘It is a mess now. There is maybe only one team or maybe two who have played all their league games — City and maybe West Ham.’

Chelsea have played all their games too, but he continued: ‘The others have played 18. Burnley 17. Then they postponed the game against Watford. It is a big mess for sure.’ 

On the Arsenal decision, which he labelled ‘strange’ Conte added: ‘This is the first time in my life that there is a league that postpone the game for injuries. You have to learn to laugh, you have to laugh because they have totally changed the vision.’

However, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta issued a defiant response to critcism over the club’s request to postpone against rivals Spurs – insisting his side did not have the players to compete. 

Arteta furiously hit back in a staunch defence of the club, saying ‘lies’ had been spread and insisted the postponement was ‘for the right reasons’.

Mikel Arteta hit back at the ‘lies’ around the club’s decision to postpone their clash with Spurs

Arteta said the club did the right thing and vowed to defend it from those trying to ‘damage’ it

‘We will defend our club with teeth and nails,’ he said ahead of his side’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool. ‘We’re not going to get anybody damaging our name or trying to spread lies.

‘We didn’t have the players necessary to compete in a Premier League match. That is 100 per cent. We postponed the match for all the right reasons.’

On the negative reaction towards Arsenal this week, he added: ‘I think more than hate there is a lot of respect for Arsenal and that comes from the history of the club, how it’s always acted and how it’s always conducted itself. 

‘We know we did the right thing. We worked with the Premier League and the FA to make that decision. If anything we’ve been very honest at least.’  




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