Karren Brady has delivered an update for West Ham fans over the plans for the return of Premier League football.
Representatives from the 20 Premier League clubs were involved in a video conference call yesterday at the latest shareholders meeting to discuss the way forward, as professional football in England remains suspended indefinitely.
No date has yet been set for the return of the Premier League, but a statement from the league has confirmed that all clubs are committed to trying to finish the 2019/20 season, with nine or ten games remaining for all top flight sides.
Some clubs, including West Ham, have started to allow players to return to training on an individual basis, and Brady has spoken of the current situation with the Hammers and her thoughts on what must happen next.
Writing in her column for The Sun, she said: "We still do not have a restart date for the Premier League but we are at least back in training . . . of sorts!
"At West Ham we’re now in the first of four phases — the commencement of individual training.
"The next phase is contact training, the third is playing the league games and the fourth is playing international matches."
However, she said that while individuals are now training by themselves at the club's Rush Green training ground, she insists that strict social distancing rules are in place to avoid contact, including a one-in, one-out policy, with players arriving and leaving in their own kit, with the gyms and communal areas remaining closed.
And she insists that the strict protocols will continue, including not being able to use the toilet or eat at the training ground, with Brady adding that a move to phase two - contact training - will only take place when it is safe to do so when the plan is signed off by the government and Public Health England.
"The key here is to make the environment as safe as it can possibly be because we want to be able to restart the games and finish our season," she said.
"To do that we have to be ready - otherwise we'll end up like France, Belgium and Holland, who have all had their season curtailed.
"There are a lot of obstacles to overcome and no doubt many compromises to make.
"The only common theme from all the clubs is that any compromises have to be fair and uphold the integrity of the game.
"Players and managers have to be key decision-makers on the protocols as there is a long way to go from where we are now to actually getting playing again.
Meanwhile, Brady added that clubs are now all producing their own COVID-19 operational policy to include testing of players and staff twice a week, which she said would be approved by the government, but done independently.
She said: "The most important aspect of all this is not what we, as chairmen and CEO’s of clubs want the protocols to be, but that the players and managers agree and are comfortable with them and that they believe it is safe to commence contact training and play games.
"Without their approval this is going nowhere, so it’s my intention to take my players through this in detail. We have to ensure that training is as safe as it can be — and they have to agree."
