Premier League return talks came too soon, says Moyes

West Ham United manager David Moyes has said it was the wrong time to discuss resuming the Premier League season when the United Kingdom was still gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professional soccer in England has been suspended since March due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has caused over 41,000 deaths in the UK.

The government last month opened the door for elite sport to resume and the Premier League said it would restart its season on June 17.

“At the start of all this I thought integrity was being used in the wrong way,” Moyes told the Times.

“Some of the debate about coming back to football when there were so many people dying in hospitals and care homes. I thought it was the wrong time to be discussing the integrity of some football games. We had to wait for the right time.”

All 20 Premier League clubs on Thursday approved a range of matchday protocols for the season’s resumption but Moyes says there are lots of questions that still need to be answered.

“Has the bus driver been tested? If we are flying, has everyone been tested, when and by who? I don’t think we’ll get all the answers but we have to get on with it,” he added.

West Ham, 16th in the Premier League standings, will resume their campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers on June 20.