Premier League Requires at Least 14 Clubs to Sign Off on Voiding 2019/20 Campaign
By Ben Carter
The Premier League will need 14 clubs to sign off on cancelling the 2019/20 season before any final decision can be made in their response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a report.
Football has been put on hold until 3 April as an initial precaution and the Premier League will hold a meeting on Thursday - after UEFA hold their own on Tuesday - to discuss what comes next.
One possibility would be to make the season void, but Standard Sport reports the Premier League will need approval from 14 clubs (a two-thirds majority) before being able to erase what's happened in the 2019/20 season thus far.
In fact, it will require a two-thirds approval no matter what course of action the Premier League decides to take.
That's because the Premier League a private company which is owned by its 20 member clubs, so a solution will have to be found which offers the path of least resistance.
It's for that reason that the prospect of making the season void has gained so much traction, as more than half of the teams could vote in favour of that step just to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle.
The Premier League would, of course, face a backlash from Liverpool, as well as clubs who want to qualify for the Champions League, especially for Manchester United who didn't qualify last season.
Arsenal would ordinarily also be in that category, but a fifth-place finish last season could see them take Manchester City's spot in next season's Champions League due to their ban from UEFA competitions.
Most of what the Premier League and other leagues across Europe can do will depend on what happens at UEFA's meeting on Tuesday, as space would open up to finish the campaign if Euro 2020 is postponed.
That, however, wouldn't be a popular decision among players as they would likely not have the chance to have any holiday before the start of the 2020/21 season.
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