Is the English football season all but over?

With no end in sight to the social distancing measures being taken due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in England, the hope that the current Premier League season will return at some point in time, grows ever more feeble by the day. The legal minefield that stands in the way of the Premier League returning any time soon is overwhelmingly fierce, mostly in regards to contracts.

Players, coaches, staff, brand partnerships, and most other such legal agreements in England expire on the 30th of June this year. This is the reason why pushing the season beyond the 30th of June becomes a massive headache.

A 'short-term' solution

If the season really does have to get extended beyond the 30th of June this year, football clubs will have to extend some of their expiring contracts. They might not hand out new three-year deals.

Hence, clubs might hand out short-term deals to many players whose contracts expire on the 30th of June this year. This situation could become problematic for players because if they get injured while playing on a short-term contract, they could find themselves without a job at the end of them.

It would make sense for the club and the player to negotiate their way through all this, but the player might still not be too willing to agree to any short-term extension under the British law.

Many Premier League stars have been linked to moves outside England in the transfer market

Football clubs could potentially find themselves in a bizarre situation should the Premier League get extended beyond the 30th of June, as some clubs would feel hard done by if crucial players refuse to sign extensions. Most players probably won't sign short-term extensions because, if they do so, the risk of getting injured falls entirely on them while the club gets away relatively unscathed. Players will also be well aware of the fact that they'll be playing a match every three days; thus, the risk of injuries will increase manifold.

For example, someone like Jude Bellingham wouldn't really consider playing a few more games in the Championship and risk getting injured when he has a potential move to clubs like Borussia Dortmund, or Manchester United lined up in the summer.

Jude Bellingham currently plays for Birmingham City

In England, a "contract" is what a player and a club would consider the intention of the contract to be. In such a scenario, if the contract says "30th of June", it is assumed that that's what's intended. However, civil law allows a more subjective interpretation of the term "intention". If the parties to the contract meant "until the end of the season," contract extension becomes a whole lot easier.

Tough to circumvent

The situation in England, in particular, is further complicated by the fact that many player contracts are heavily skewed towards incentives and bonuses. Under normal circumstances, additional incentives are seen as useful tools to motivate a player to achieve certain targets. If a season gets cancelled, players don't receive these bonuses.

Extending the current season beyond August will not be feasible from a legal point of view. The risk of injuries needs special mention from a football player's perspective. All professional footballers are currently stuck at home and are training themselves to keep themselves in shape. The problem is, no matter how much they train on their own, without the expert supervision of the club staff they will be nowhere near the fitness levels required to play at the highest level.

Injuries during an extended season would hamper many players' chances of moving to another club

Furthermore, if a player is out of contract on the 1st of July, he can not be employed by any club because the transfer window has moved. That's a trade restraint. Most clubs will have enough players to be able to comfortably finish the season without having to fork out too many short-term extensions, albeit this will raise questions about the integrity of the competition.

Options

The best thing to do in case the current EPL season does have to get extended beyond the 30th of June would be to award Liverpool the Premier League title. The current Premier League table will decide the European spots. The top 2 teams in the Championship, League One and League Two, would be promoted, and there would be no relegation. The divisions would then be readjusted over the coming seasons.

No matter what course the Premier League takes, someone or the other will always be ready to take legal action against them. At this point, the Premier League is faced with the task of opting for the path that offers the least resistance.