The return of the Championship may cost Nottingham Forest up to £30,000-per-week on coronavirus testing alone should tomorrow's Premier League meeting give the green light to a return to football.
That is according to a report by Independent who claim that the Premier League have demanded that players should be tested three times-per-week.
The Premier League is due to meet tomorrow to discuss their ‘Project Restart’ and, while the EFL hopes to also resume action, it is now said to be unlikely that divisions below the Championship will be concluded.
The Daily Mail states club captains and PFA reps have been told to relay to their team-mates the very real possibility of no more football being played, with it stated that players have been told there is little expectation within the EFL that any football will be played in June.
Clubs have also been warned that fans are unlikely to be able to attend matches until January 2021, with the impact of the coronavirus crisis set to be felt at the start of the 2020/21 campaign.
Should they decide to resume the sport in June, football clubs could be required to test every staff member present at training three times per week.
With private tests currently costing between £150 and £180, that could see a bill of up to £30,000-per-week if the club's essential staff, including players, extends to 50.
That figure is a step beyond what League One and League Two clubs could afford and would, for many Championship clubs, surpass the weekly wages of their highest-earning player.
Another issue is that EFL clubs reportedly are not prepared to pay players whose contracts run out in June extra money if the season does continue and runs into July, August and even beyond. They will merely expect them to play on.
Players have now been asked by their PFA reps to vote on whether they think this is acceptable and whether they would be prepared to do it. This could yet be a deal-breaker as some clubs will simply not be able to compete without the services of players in the last year of their contracts.
