Premier League reveals safety norms before resumption of suspended season

London [UK], June 16 : As Premier League gears up to resume its suspended season from June 17, the organisers of the tournament on Tuesday revealed the safety measures that would be in place for all the teams during matches.
All the matches would be played behind closed doors as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus, but the organisers of the league revealed some more security measures.
In a series of tweets, Premier League, also known as the English Premier League (EPL) on Tuesday said that the players of the away team would make their way out to the field first, and then the home team would follow.
During the national anthem, players would stand in a staggered manner, as per the EPL, and would not shake hands before or after the match.
There would be no ball assistants in behind-closed-doors matches, so if a match ball goes into the stands, it would be up to the referee to decide whether it could be retrieved without a noticeable delay or not. If not, then the referee would allow players to use spare balls placed around the pitch.
Benches on the sidelines would be expanded to enable social-distancing. This would also include the usage of seats next to the bench or reallocating seats to provide the required distance.
The referee would signal for drinks breaks to be taken midway through each half. The breaks should last no longer than a minute, with players drinking from their own bottles. The time taken for the break would be added to the end of the half.
As per the safety directions issued by the EPL organisers, if a player needs treatment on the pitch, any club staff performing physiotherapy or soft-tissue treatment must wear the appropriate PPE. A paramedic crew of two people would be in the Red Zone and clubs should name two members of Red Zone staff to act as stretcher-bearers.
Managers can now make use of five substitutes during a match. Teams can now have nine players on the bench, but the manager can only make substitutions on three occasions, not including at half-time. Only three substitutes from one team are allowed to warm up at one time.
All the members in the technical area have been asked to follow social distancing and zones have been marked out to guide them.
The EPL is scheduled to resume its season, which was suspended earlier in March, on Wednesday as Aston Villa would take on Sheffield United and Manchester City play against Arsenal.
Before the suspension of the league, Liverpool was at the top of the standings and they just need two wins to secure the title.