The Premier League are likely to find themselves under intense pressure to suspend fixtures indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.Other top leagues in Europe - including Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s La Liga - have already been suspended as nations try and tackle this ongoing health crisis.It’s also expected that the Champions League and the Europa League will also be suspended.Apart from a ban on pre-match handshakes, however, it’s business as usual for the Premier League as things stand.That is expected to change, though, when the UK government moves from the ‘contain’ phase to ‘delay’.The Times have published details about English football’s crisis plan - including all games to go behind closed doors - which you can read HERE.Meanwhile, The Telegraph are now reporting that all players at an unnamed Premier League club are today being tested for the coronavirus after three first-team players displayed symptoms.The results are due back tomorrow.“One player first showed symptoms of the virus earlier this week and was immediately placed in self-isolation,” the report adds. “He appeared to be getting better but has since relapsed with two others subsequently displaying symptoms.”
The Telegraph say that the club’s games this weekend will certainly be called off if the results come back positive.Furthermore, the Premier League would find itself under considerable pressure to follow the lead of other European leagues by suspending all matches.“In fact it appears inevitable that will happen once a case is confirmed, with the Premier League otherwise in danger of being accused of not being in control of the situation,” the Telegraph’s Jadon Burt writes. “There is a desire at some clubs for the government to intervene today and take the matter out of the Premier League’s hands rather than wait for things to escalate.“The next step to combat coronavirus is for clubs to play games behind-closed-doors but a number of Premier League clubs believe they are now out-of-step with the rest of Europe and that total suspension of the league is necessary.”It’s currently unclear what would happen with regards to the title race, who qualifies for European competition and relegation if the Premier League is suspended.But right now, football is beginning to feel increasingly insignificant.Later on Thursday, Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed that three of his players are currently in self-isolation after showing coronavirus symptoms.