Premier League to ban team celebrations, shirt-swapping and spitting when games resume

A potential Premier League return plan is in the works as league officials grind around the clock to reach a mutual solution. There is certain friction coming from lower-placed clubs in the league standings such as Bournemouth, Norwich City, Aston Villa, Brighton and West Ham United. The six clubs are against the idea of playing the remainder of their 2019-20 fixtures at neutral venues as proposed in the Premier League Project Restart plan. However, regardless of the outcome, there will be certain changes that will come into play once the league resumes.

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Premier League return: Officials will ban team celebrations, shirt-swapping and spitting

The 20 Premier League clubs are scheduled to vote next week in order to find the most appropriate solution to complete the remaining 92 matches of the season as the United Kingdom begins to relax lockdown rules. If, and when the league resumes, there are bound to be some additional rules that will be added to the game in order to cope with the COVID-19 crisis. For instance, reports in the British media state that spitting will be banned in training and during matches as well in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.

There will also be a ban on the sharing of water bottles, which may have to be individually labelled with player names. This was mentioned in a seven-page document prepared by English top-flight officials setting out health and social distancing guidelines. In addition to this, the restrictions could also forbid players from celebrating together after scoring goals and swapping shirts with opponents after matches. The customary pre-match handshakes and huddles will also not be done away with.

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