Premier League clubs await decision on mid-season break dates
Tuesday 3 December 2019 11:44, UK
Premier League teams will discover when they will have their mid-season break no later than December 20.
In June, the FA approved the two-week hiatus period for top-flight teams, thereby adopting a similar policy that already exists in other major divisions across Europe including Serie A, Ligue 1, the Bundesliga and La Liga.
For the first time, clubs will be granted time off in the middle of the Premier League campaign, with matchday 26 split across the weekends of February 7-10 and February 14-17.
Due to the draws for the Champions League and Europa League first knockout rounds not taking place until December 16, the Premier League is holding off on announcing domestic fixtures for February.
A Premier League statement read: "The mid-season player break will have the 10 fixtures of matchweek 26, split across the two weekends of 7-10 February and 14-17 February 2020.
"The break was introduced in June 2018 after positive discussions with The FA and the EFL regarding the football calendar."
It is hoped that the introduction of a break will assist the England national team, and international stars playing in the Premier League, for summer tournaments and in the run-in to the end of the domestic season.
At the time the decision was made, chief executive of the FA Martin Glenn said: "This is a significant moment for English football and one that we believe will greatly benefit both club and country."
Sign up for goal alerts with Sky Sports
The Premier League action keeps coming - make sure you don't miss a thing by signing up for goal alerts with the Sky Sports Score Centre app.
Download the Score Centre app for iOS devices or Android , select 'Notifications' from the 'More' section in the app main menu, then toggle on for 'Goals' to get alerts straight to your phone.
