The Premier League and its clubs are "frightened to death" about publicly backing the resumption of the season as they do not want to be held liable if someone dies because of the coronavirus, television pundit Gary Neville said on Sunday.
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Professional soccer has been suspended since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has infected over 182,000 people in the United Kingdom, killing more than 28,000.
The 20 Premier League clubs held a conference call on Friday in which they looked at plans for a resumption of training this month but deferred making a decision on resuming the season until the government gave the go-ahead.
The government had originally set May 7 as the day it would review lockdown restrictions.
"The PL are having a CV nightmare. They keep spouting health first but then brief constantly 'We have to re-start'," former Manchester United great Neville wrote on Twitter.
"I'd respect them more if they said, 'We accept the increase in health risk but it's one we are willing to take'. They won't as they are frightened to death!"
When a Twitter user asked him what would happen if they restarted the season and someone died, Neville said: "That's why we haven't heard one single prominent CEO, Chairman, Owner or Executive open his mouth to back the re-start.
"Scared to death of the liability and blame."
The clubs have reviewed plans for resuming training which will initially be restricted to small groups of players with no use of indoor facilities.
Some clubs started individual sessions for players at their training grounds last week.
Meanwhile former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier believes his old club should be awarded the title even if the season is not completed because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Liverpool are 25 points clear at the top with nine games left to play.
According to Houllier, who led Liverpool to FA Cup and UEFA Cup glory in 2001 during his six-year spell at Anfield, Juergen Klopp's team would be deserved champions.
Asked if they should be awarded their first top-flight title since 1990, the former France coach told TalkSport: "Yeah. That's what they did in France. They gave it to Paris St Germain. They had a 12-point lead and I think Liverpool needed just two games to win the title.
"If there was a difference of maybe two or three points then you could argue it takes some chances away from teams behind but 25 points there is no way they wouldn't be champions. They deserve it."
Australian Associated Press