Across Europe, ideas differ over whether leagues can resume

England is scrambling to find a solution to billion-pound question: How to restart Premier League?

However, competition with most to lose financially if season is abandoned is unlikely to see a clear path forward if it looks across to its European counterparts.

So far, European countries have taken very different approaches to getting sports up and running again amid coronavirus pandemic.

French and Dutch leagues have been canceled in last week after orders from government.

Players in Italy can train again from next month but government has started to express unease about Serie A resuming.

Spanish authorities, too, are wary about players garing on pitches too soon.

Of major European men's leagues, only Germany is accelerating a plan to get Bundesliga back underway -- potentially inside two weeks. Switzerland's government said Wednesday that teams will be allowed to start training again on May 11, with hope of games starting up in June in empty stiums.

Even n, medical experts are warning that playing games without fans does t eliminate risk of COVID-19 being spre by hundreds of people still required inside stiums.

“re are real worries about infection risks,” Jonas Baer-Hoffman, general secretary of global players’ union FIFPRO, said Wednesday. “re are worries about what that means for ir families and friends that y eng with. y are worried very much that y represent something in society that might give a b influence.”

Leagues have until May 25 to tell UEFA how y plan to complete or curtail 2019-20 season.

Ultimately, any decision depends on status of national lockdowns, which halted leagues across Europe in March as governments tried to contain pandemic.

“We are planning on trying to squeeze in rest of season,” Lars-Christer Olsson, president of European Leagues body, said Wednesday. “We have problems with this big uncertainty ... and when it comes to decisions me in different countries, by different authorities.”

“Project Restart” is Premier League plan being worked through with government ahe of a conference call with clubs on Friday. league has alrey warned politicians that competition is facing losses of more than a billion pounds ($1.3 billion) if season cant be completed — mainly due to need to fulfil most lucrative television contracts in world football.

Premier League has an optimistic aspiration to resume season on June 8, with leer Liverpool 25 points clear with nine games remaining.

Arsenal and Tottenham are among clubs starting to re-open ir training facilities this week for individual work on pitches as players try to get back into shape.

“re are big prizes up for grabs and huge ecomic loss that’s going to be incurred,” said former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, who is w co-owner of fourth-tier professional club Salford City and a Sky Sports brocaster. “It does cloud minds, in terms of level of risk people are willing to place on lives in order for return of football.”

Some clubs wanted season to be declared null and void but Premier League and three lower leagues are determined to finish season.

Premier League has an optimistic aspiration to resume season on June 8, with leer Liverpool 25 points clear with nine games remaining.

A variety of plans for league restarting have been swirling around -- from squs and coaching staff isolating toger to only a small number of stiums being used.

police see benefits of games being at a neutral venue to minimize disruption to emergency services.

“Playing all those fixtures (in original stiums) would present challenges -- that’s an awful lot of people moving around country,” said Mark Roberts, who hes football policing in England. “ police, ambulance service and all those or functions that are going to be stretched."

One of key challenges across Europe is securing and funding eugh COVID-19 tests to test thousands of people a week around training and matches to protect players and support staff.

Spanish league wants daily testing of squs and coaches, a plan that players’ association has objected to as long as tests are scarce among general public. government is allowing players to resume training next week, although sports minister has cautioned games might t be allowed before summer

French plans to restart Ligue 1 ended when prime minister on Tuesday anunced a ban on all major sporting events until September — a decision that startled Spanish league.

“I do t understand why re would more danger in playing football behind closed doors, with all precautionary measures, than working on an assembly line,” La Liga President Javier Tebas said. “If important ecomic sectors cant restart, in a safe and controlled manner, y could end up disappearing. That could happen to professional football."

But Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spafora said French cancelation of season “could push Italy and or European countries to follow that line.”

Serie A teams are holding an emergency meeting on Friday and Spafora said he doubts re will be eugh resources to carry out necessary COVID-19 testing.

“I see path to restarting Serie A getting ever narrower,” Spafora said. "Resuming training is an important sign but if I was among presidents of soccer teams I would be thinking about next season.”

In Nerlands, legal action is alrey being prepared by at least one topflight club — FC Utrecht —- after last week's decision to cancel remainder of season and base final league standings on current point totals.

UEFA initially insisted in early April that leagues should t prematurely abandon season but is w giving flexibility to opting a “different format” like playoffs to determine final standings that feed into European qualification.

This season's quarterfinals of Champions League and Europa League are yet to be played, but UEFA is giving domestic competitions priority.

“In full respect of local legislation, it is definitely possible to plan restart of competitions suspended during 2019-20 season,” UEFA medical committee chairman Tim Meyer said.