Full-contact training next step for EPL footballers

LONDON • Football players will be able to tackle in close-contact training, and boxers spar with partners, in the next step towards British professional athletes returning to competitive action after the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The British government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport guidance on Monday spelt out the second part of a five-stage framework to enable athletes to get match-fit before any top-level competition resumes.

"Stage Two training can be described as the resumption of close-contact training where pairs, small groups and/or teams will be able to interact in much closer contact," it said.

Examples given include close-quarters coaching, combat sports sparring, team sports tackling and the sharing of technical equipment such as balls, gloves and pads.

"The progression of training into Stage Two is vital to prepare fully for the return of competitive sporting fixtures in many sports," added the document.

"Close-contact training is required to replicate match formations and conditions, so that sport-specific demands can be placed on the body, mind and senses."

Premier League footballers have already returned to non-contact training in small groups with their clubs while respecting social distancing guidelines.

Safe distancing measures still need to be adhered to under Stage Two, with time spent closer than two metres in training to be kept to "a reasonable minimum", but it would represent one step closer to the Premier League's restart.

Clubs will vote on whether to resume full-contact training tomorrow and there is expected to be little to no opposition, having already been granted the green light by the government.

Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend also told Sky Sports yesterday his peers were "desperate" for normal service to resume.

He was also encouraged by the results of the testing regime for Covid-19 - which has seen a total of eight cases as of yesterday - since the top flight began mass testing last week.

"We're desperate to get back to normality and contact training," Townsend said.

"At the start of the week, you're worried about being near other players, but as the days go on, you get more and more comfortable with each positive test.

Crystal Palace's Andros Townsend (right) going up against Liverpool's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at Selhurst Park last November. Townsend and his peers are desperate to get back to normality and contact training in this virus-disrupted period. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

"If it was two people from the same club (who had tested positive), you'd start to ask questions about how it had spread around the training ground.

"But the fact it's at two different clubs and they've kept it from spreading shows that we're in the safest workplace in the country and it gives us confidence to move on to the next phase of testing."

While some footballers have stayed away from training - most notably Chelsea's N'Golo Kante and three other Watford players, including captain Troy Deeney - the majority of players around the league have endorsed the phased approach of Project Restart.

Play has been suspended since March 13, but it is hoped competitive games can get going again next month behind closed doors.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 26, 2020, with the headline Full-contact training next step for EPL footballers. Subscribe