Premier League clubs to discuss neutral venues and curtailment contingency plans at Project Restart meeting

All 20 clubs will meet again as planning ramps up ahead of the league’s 17 June resumption

The Premier League will seek to make further progress on the use of stadiums in Thursday’s latest ‘Project Restart’ meeting, and also finalise contingency plans for curtailment.

It speaks to the complete change in mood that the main issues for the video conferences are mostly procedural, with that reflected by how the issue of rebating the broadcasters was mostly settled by Wednesday.

Those payments – the extent of which had previously been a point of debate for some clubs – have now been deferred until 2021-22, alleviating financial pressures.

The Premier League still has to iron out which stadiums are to actually be used ahead of the 17 June restart, although it seems increasingly likely that the vast majority of the 92 remaining matches will be played in the grounds in which they were supposed to originally take place.

The remainder represent high-risk games as regards the potential congregation of crowds – like derbies or a potential Liverpool title-clincher – and decisions will remain dependent on discussions with government and the police.

While the mood among the Premier League is positive, they will also discuss contingency plans for any curtailment. Such a scenario is virtually certain to be decided on points-per-game. This is procedurally necessary, but one source said it will also help “focus minds” as to remaining challenges under Project Restart.

The video conference will continue to fine-tune the Matchday Operations Plan, which covers how fixtures will actually be run. That will go to a vote on Thursday.