Premier League has announced plans to resume on 17th of June, with Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal, the first two fixtures to be played since suspension of games due to coronavirus fears.
The first full round of fixtures will be played that weekend, starting with a game on Friday 19th June, and all matches will take place behind closed doors.
The league has also confirmed that all 92 remaining matches earlier suspended will now be broadcast live in the UK by existing broadcast partners: Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Sport and Amazon Prime without providing specific details for each fixture.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters stated that;
Today we have provisionally agreed to resume the Premier League on Wednesday 17 June. This date cannot be confirmed until we have met all the safety requirements needed, as the health and welfare of all participants and supporters is our priority.
He added;
Sadly, matches will have to take place without fans in stadiums, so we are pleased to have come up with a positive solution for supporters to be able to watch all the remaining 92 matches.
The Premier League Chief expressed that;
The Premier League and our clubs are proud to have incredibly passionate and loyal supporters. It is important to ensure as many people as possible can watch the matches at home.
The match between Arsenal and Manchester City was supposed to be played on March 11th before it was postponed over coronavirus fears.
The Premier League games came to a full halt once it emerged that the Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, had tested positive for the disease.
The league has also published proposed kick-off times for weekend and midweek matches, with slots on every day of the week.
There are 10 weekend slots, suggesting that all games will take place at different times.
The time slots are: Friday 8pm; Saturday 12.30pm, 3pm, 5.30pm and 8pm; Sunday 12pm, 2pm, 4.30pm and 7pm; Monday 8pm. Midweek games will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6pm and 8pm.
