Masters: "You want to give those players and the whole staff the moment they worked so hard for, if that's what happens. Yes, we would try and do it"
Tuesday 19 May 2020 11:00, UK
The Premier League says it will support a trophy presentation for Liverpool if they are crowned champions and it is safe to do so.
Jurgen Klopp's side, who are 25 points clear at the top of the table, only need two more wins to clinch their first top-flight title in 30 years should the domestic season get back underway after it was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Premier League's chief executive Richard Masters has confirmed he will support plans for a presentation should the social and public health situation allow it.
"If at all possible, yes, you'd like to have a trophy presentation," Masters said on Monday.
"You want to give those players and the whole staff the moment they worked so hard for, if that's what happens. Yes, we would try and do it, unless it wasn't possible because of safety concerns."
On Monday, Premier League clubs unanimously voted in favour of resuming training in small groups from Tuesday in a significant stepping stone for season resumption in England.
With all 20 clubs keen to resume the season when deemed safe to do so, a return to top-flight football in June could potentially be edging closer.
In a meeting held by conference call, Premier League clubs did not discuss the possibility of curtailing the season - like in Scotland - and continued talks over the issue of neutral venues.
Another topic discussed by clubs on Monday was the option to move to contact training on Tuesday next week, seven days after clubs were given the all-clear to host group training sessions again.
Masters also admitted it would be a "good idea to prioritise" the games in hand between Manchester City and Arsenal and Sheffield United's trip to Aston Villa, in order to get all clubs on the same number of matches.
"It is a relatively normal occurrence for, at this stage of the season, there to be displaced matches that have to be played," he said.
"But I think it is a good idea to prioritise games that have to be played first relatively early in the schedule."
The Premier League have been keeping a close eye on Germany at the weekend, as the Bundesliga became the first of Europe's top leagues to restart their season behind closed doors.
Masters believes it is important for the Premier League to have a marker in his bid to get English top-flight football back rolling.
"The Germans are a couple of steps ahead of us obviously and we can learn from them and watch them and take confidence from their success," he said.
"I think starting the league, watching it being played out, seeing the quality of football and observing the package from behind closed doors, how it was broadcast was really helpful for the Premier League and our other European Leagues' colleagues.
"That is helpful and it does add confidence that it can be achievable in this country.
"We speak to our European counterparts regularly every week. We're really pleased to see the Bundesliga get back to a good playing start yesterday. The football looks good.
"I think we'll take a different approach, not saying better, but slightly different approach to the behind closed doors product and that's one of the things we were able to talk to clubs today, the direction of travel.
"All in all, I thought it was good. The other thing is we didn't have, in any of the games, any fan issues, congregations or gatherings to speak of. It was a positive start for Bundesliga."
Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson insists the potential problem of fans congregating outside stadiums would not be unique to Merseyside.
"It doesn't matter what football club it was that was in the position that Liverpool are in, whether they were a London club, a Midlands club, a Manchester club or a Liverpool-based club, the issues would be similar," Anderson told Sky Sports News.
"After a 30-year wait, people would be excited, people would want to go out and celebrate."
Earlier this month Anderson suggested a return for football was a "non-starter" and could give rise to "farcical" scenes, leading Liverpool to express disappointment and insist there was "a lack of evidence to support such claims" that fans would gather outside Anfield.
Following the unanimous vote by Premier League clubs to resume training in small groups, here's how each top-flight club is preparing for the return...
According to reports, Liverpool are expected to start 'phase one' training on Wednesday having opened up their training ground for individual work-outs at the start of the month.
Previously, defender Joe Gomez had told Sky Sports: "Every day training at home for us now is like grinding it out, there are no highs and lows in the session, no atmosphere or thrill from the fans, it's obviously a lot duller than when you're playing 90 minutes."
