Steve Parish warns Premier League could face years of legal challenges if 2019/20 season is cancelled

The Premier League could face years of legal challenges if this season is not completed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the chairman of Crystal Palace warned Sunday.

Steve Parish offered public support for the league’s “Project Restart” plans after relegation-threatened Brighton and West Ham expressed concerns about teams being forced to play their remaining games in neutral stadiums.

The league is working with the government to find a safe way for players to resume group training and play games by June at the earliest.

But the French and Dutch league seasons have already been halted by their governments amid ongoing concerns about sporting fixtures spreading COVID-19 infections. While Paris Saint-Germain was crowned French champion last week despite Ligue 1 ending prematurely, Ajax will not be awarded the Dutch title.

“I want to complete the competition for reasons of sporting integrity,” Parish said in a column published Sunday on the Palace website.



“I want to crown Liverpool champions and give every other club a fair crack at the best league position they can achieve. I certainly don’t want to have difficult conversations about curtailing, voiding and points per game.

“The ramifications of each are complex and could involve legal challenges that run on for months, if not years. But, yes, it is partly about the money. And we should all care about the money.”

Parish highlighted the “many secondary industries football enriches,” with the Premier League fearing losses of more than 1 billion pounds from an incomplete campaign as broadcasting commitments are not met.

“Nobody wins if the Premier League receives less money,” Parish said. “Football is one of the most efficient tax-generating industries in Britain: we pay the players a lot but 50 percent goes straight back into the public purse. Overall we pay about 3.3 billion pounds in tax every year and it is the Premier League that largely funds the whole football pyramid.”