Post by Macmoish on Aug 10, 2011 18:27:26 GMT
Guardian/Jamie Jackson
Premier League may delay decision over opening weekend until Friday
• Spread of rioting has put Premier League fixtures in doubt
• QPR's Bernie Ecclestone warns against postponements
The Premier League could delay until Friday its decision on whether the new season can start as scheduled this weekend.
The Premier League, Football League and the police have stated that they will offer a public assessment on Thursday as to whether matches will be played as planned following the riots that have taken place throughout the UK. However, they are now prepared to take more time over that decision, with the situation changing daily.
If more time is required a decision would have to be taken no later than Friday due to the logistics involved.
Wednesday's Bristol Rovers versus Watford Carling Cup match has been postponed, as has England's friendly against Holland at Wembley.
Every match requires a safety certificate which has to be agreed by the local Safety Advisory Group and then signed off by its chairman. But once issued this can be subsequently withdrawn at the 11th hour if the situation changes dramatically. This allows clubs and the police flexibility should serious disorder flare up again.
The SAG is made up of members from the respective football club, the local police, fire brigade, ambulance service and council.
A police source who has worked in match-day intelligence for one of London's major clubs said: "If any party can't provide a service that would ensure the safety and security of the event then it would be up to the Safety Advisory Group chairperson to decide whether that event could go ahead."
The Football League chairman Greg Clarke said that while he hoped games would be played as planned this weekend, the situation could change depending on police advice.
"The police have to make these calls," he told Sky Sports News. "If they feel they have more important things to do than send officers to football grounds, we will support that decision.
"Our priority is to make sure the police are out there dealing with unrest on the streets. We want to keep our games going ahead but that is a secondary priority. If they need to move police away from football games, we will cancel those football games."
Clarke said he expected any disruption to be short-lived: "We don't believe the situation will go on much longer: history tells us these things tend to peter out.
"We will make those decisions as and when and will have conversations with the police on a case-by-case basis. If there is civil disobedience in an area and there are football matches scheduled in that area, we will review the situation minute-by-minute with the police.
"I wouldn't over-emphasise the number of games we could potentially lose. I don't want to talk up the sense of hysteria. I don't know, none of us do, what will happen tonight and the night after that and the night after that."
However, the Queens Park Rangers co-owner Bernie Ecclestone believes postponing Premier League games would send "a terrible message to the rest of the world".
QPR are due to play Bolton at Loftus Road on Saturday – one of nine league matches in London this weekend. Ecclestone told the BBC: "I've spoken to people at the club who seemed quite confident it will go ahead. The police seem to have managed to contain the things that have been going on. But there's not much stuff that people can loot at a match so it won't attract the kind of people that have been active in the last few days."
Ecclestone said the authorities should keep the image of the game in mind. "The Premier League is watched everywhere I travel. I always see Manchester United on the TV wherever I am. So it's a very bad message for England, and we're going to have the Olympics soon. You imagine if this happened when the Games started. It would be terrible."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/10/premier-league-delay-decision-friday
Premier League may delay decision over opening weekend until Friday
• Spread of rioting has put Premier League fixtures in doubt
• QPR's Bernie Ecclestone warns against postponements
The Premier League could delay until Friday its decision on whether the new season can start as scheduled this weekend.
The Premier League, Football League and the police have stated that they will offer a public assessment on Thursday as to whether matches will be played as planned following the riots that have taken place throughout the UK. However, they are now prepared to take more time over that decision, with the situation changing daily.
If more time is required a decision would have to be taken no later than Friday due to the logistics involved.
Wednesday's Bristol Rovers versus Watford Carling Cup match has been postponed, as has England's friendly against Holland at Wembley.
Every match requires a safety certificate which has to be agreed by the local Safety Advisory Group and then signed off by its chairman. But once issued this can be subsequently withdrawn at the 11th hour if the situation changes dramatically. This allows clubs and the police flexibility should serious disorder flare up again.
The SAG is made up of members from the respective football club, the local police, fire brigade, ambulance service and council.
A police source who has worked in match-day intelligence for one of London's major clubs said: "If any party can't provide a service that would ensure the safety and security of the event then it would be up to the Safety Advisory Group chairperson to decide whether that event could go ahead."
The Football League chairman Greg Clarke said that while he hoped games would be played as planned this weekend, the situation could change depending on police advice.
"The police have to make these calls," he told Sky Sports News. "If they feel they have more important things to do than send officers to football grounds, we will support that decision.
"Our priority is to make sure the police are out there dealing with unrest on the streets. We want to keep our games going ahead but that is a secondary priority. If they need to move police away from football games, we will cancel those football games."
Clarke said he expected any disruption to be short-lived: "We don't believe the situation will go on much longer: history tells us these things tend to peter out.
"We will make those decisions as and when and will have conversations with the police on a case-by-case basis. If there is civil disobedience in an area and there are football matches scheduled in that area, we will review the situation minute-by-minute with the police.
"I wouldn't over-emphasise the number of games we could potentially lose. I don't want to talk up the sense of hysteria. I don't know, none of us do, what will happen tonight and the night after that and the night after that."
However, the Queens Park Rangers co-owner Bernie Ecclestone believes postponing Premier League games would send "a terrible message to the rest of the world".
QPR are due to play Bolton at Loftus Road on Saturday – one of nine league matches in London this weekend. Ecclestone told the BBC: "I've spoken to people at the club who seemed quite confident it will go ahead. The police seem to have managed to contain the things that have been going on. But there's not much stuff that people can loot at a match so it won't attract the kind of people that have been active in the last few days."
Ecclestone said the authorities should keep the image of the game in mind. "The Premier League is watched everywhere I travel. I always see Manchester United on the TV wherever I am. So it's a very bad message for England, and we're going to have the Olympics soon. You imagine if this happened when the Games started. It would be terrible."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/10/premier-league-delay-decision-friday
Smug-mode on.