16th March, 2020
Former English Football Association (FA) chairman, Greg Dyke, said it would be nonsensical for the Premier League to abandon the current season and scratch the rankings.
According to him, such a move would lead to huge financial losses. This, he said after the season was suspended till April 4.
The Premier League was suspended following an emergency meeting sparked by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta testing positive for coronavirus.
Earlier, the current FA chairman, Greg Clarke had said at the weekend that he did not think the season would be completed.
However, Dyke said scrapping the season would prove costly for the FA, thanks to unpaid broadcast fees and lawsuits from clubs. He said the Premier League could take advantage of the likely cancellation of Euro 2020 to play into August.
”You might have to play behind closed doors to fulfill the contracts for the broadcasters. Otherwise, they’re not going to pay up and that could mean hundreds of millions of pounds.
”You may even have to play three matches a week to get them done. I can see if you are a Norwich fan or of a team like West Ham, you might be delighted if the season was cancelled.
”At a club like Leeds (top of the second tier), fans would go nuts. You can also imagine clubs taking legal action,” Dyke said.