Football at the time of the pandemic is destined for a "new normal", subject to significant changes, also suggested by Fifa, but above all in the United Kingdom by the custodians of the age-old rules of football. From neutral fields to the reduction of playing time, from the transfer of the championship to another continent to the suspension of relegations: any hypothesis, even the most extravagant and bizarre, just to complete the Premier League season, which is based on TV rights .
The possibility of canceling the championship has never been taken into consideration, although it has not been played for two months and on the island the calculation of the deaths from Covid-19 is - in Europe - second only to the Italian one. Not only the Football Association and clubs, but also Boris Johnson's government is pushing to return to the field as soon as possible, possibly in the first half of June, in time to complete the season by July. Many clubs have already started training again, others will do it this week. All ready, and resigned to a football that will have to deal with the coronavirus or, better, with the limitations that the health emergency has already imposed.
It now seems certain that the remaining 92 games will be played behind closed doors, without spectators. In all probability in neutral fields, 10 stadiums selected on the basis of the distance from the city centers, to avoid crowds from the fans. There are even those who - like former Manchester United full-back Gary Neville, today an authoritative commentator - have proposed to move the entire Premier circus to another European country, where there are fewer contagions. And from Australia came the invitation to play the final part of the season there. That could undergo drastic changes not only in logistics, but also in regulation. Not only by allowing a greater number of substitutions (up to five, as proposed by Fifa), but also because of the reduction in the duration of the matches. A sensational solution to meet the players, who undergo a real tour de force in the coming weeks: up to 10 championship days compressed in six weeks.
A marathon that will have to assign the national title - suspended but in fact in the Liverpool safe, which has 25 points ahead of the City - but (perhaps) superfluous for the purpose of the struggle for salvation, because - among the hypotheses under consideration - there is it is also the suspension of relegations. As desired by the smaller clubs, even willing to challenge the integrity of the league, while guaranteeing the lucrative TV rights for an extra year.