Coronavirus battle: National League wait on Premier League decision

National League bosses are waiting to find out if the Premier League will push back the restart date of England’s top flight today because of the coronavirus.

With little hope of starting again immediately after the current 30 April deadline as the public health crisis locks down the UK, all 20 PL clubs are meeting via video conference to consider their next move.

Friday’s meeting was scheduled before PL clubs started coming under increasingly heavy fire for taking advantage of the government’s job retention scheme by furloughing their non-playing staff while continuing to pay the full salaries of their millionaire stars.

The National League, originally suspended until 3 April, opted to extend the 2019/20 season “indefinitely” on Tuesday and their next move is complicated by the competition’s links to the professional game through promotion and relegation from the English Football League.

National League Statement | Competition Suspended Indefinitely

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— The National League (@TheVanaramaNL) March 31, 2020

The rest of Non-League football at Steps 3 to 7 was terminated with immediate effect by the Football Association last Thursday, a decision which has sparked huge controversy after the season was declared null and void with no promotion or relegation.

The PL meeting is being held after European football’s governing body Uefa wrote a joint letter with the European Clubs’ Association to  the continent’s 55 domestic bodies urging them not to abandon their seasons.

As it stands, the Premier League, EFL, National League, National League North and South and Women’s Super League still aim to complete the 2019/20 season.

“Any decision of abandoning domestic competitions is, at this stage, premature and not justified,” said the letter.

The top flight in Belarus is the only competition in Europe currently playing on in the face of the worldwide pandemic.

Make sure you get your copy of The Non-League Paper this week for all the latest news in one place on the impact of the coronavirus crisis on society and football’s fightback.
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