Liverpool could finally be crowned Premier League champions on a Sunday night Merseyside derby.

Dates and kick-off times for the remaining games of the interrupted season – which gets back under way on June 17 – were discussed at a meeting between the 20 clubs on Thursday.

According to media reports, clubs were given a list of provisional dates and kick-off times for the first three rounds of matches.

Liverpool – 25 points clear at the top – are set to face arch rivals Everton away at 7pm on Sunday, June 21.

The match will be on Sky, but will be also shown free-to-air on their free view channel Pick.

Jurgen Klopp’s side could well win the title with victory in the Merseyside derby if Manchester City lose to Arsenal on June 17, in their game in hand.

Liverpool city council’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) are set to meet next week for further talks over whether the game will be held at Goodison Park or a neutral venue, with fears fans could congregate outside.

Liverpool’s next game, against Crystal Palace at home, will be on June 24 – kicking off at 8.15pm.

Brighton and Arsenal, meanwhile, are set to make history with the first Saturday 3pm Premier League match shown live on television.

All the remaining matches – 92 in total – will be televised because they are being played behind closed doars

From Wedneday, June 17 to Thursday, July 2, there will only be three days without live football.

Provisional Premier League fixture dates

Wednesday, June 17
Aston Villa v Sheffield United 6pm
Manchester City v Arsenal 8pm

Friday, June 19
Norwich v Southampton 6pm
Tottenham v Manchester United 8pm

Saturday, June 20
Watford v Leicester 12.30pm
Brighton v Arsenal 3pm
West Ham v Wolves 5.30pm
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace 7.45pm

Sunday, June 21
Newcastle v Sheffield United 2pm
Aston Villa v Chelsea 4.30pm 
Everton v Liverpool 7pm

Monday, June 22
Manchester City v Burnley 8pm

Tuesday, June 23
Southampton v Arsenal 6pm
Tottenham v West Ham 8.15pm

Wednesday, June 24
Manchester United v Sheffield United 6pm
Newcastle v Aston Villa 6pm
Norwich v Everton 6pm – BBC
Liverpool v Crystal Palace 8.15pm

Thursday, June 25
Burnley v Watford 6pm
Leicester v Brighton 6pm
Chelsea v Manchester City 8.15pm
Wolves v Bournemouth 8.15pm

Sunday, June 28
Aston Villa v Wolves 12pm

Watford v Southampton 4.30pm

Monday June, 29
Crystal Palace v Burnley 8pm

Tuesday June, 30
Brighton v Manchester United 6pm
Sheffield United v Tottenham 8.15pm

Wednesday, July 1
Bournemouth v Newcastle 6pm
Everton v Leicester 6pm
West Ham v Chelsea 8.15pm

Thursday, July 2
Arsenal v Norwich 6pm
Manchester City v Liverpool 8.15pm

*All are subject to change and have yet to be confirmed by the Premier League

Premier League clubs will be able to use five substitutes per match for the remainder of the 2019/20 season when it resumes on June 17.

The temporary law amendment was approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) last month, with the Bundesliga already adopting this rule having returned to action in May in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The temporary rule will give top-flight managers, like Pep Guardiola, more flexibility when the season resumes in just over a fortnight

A Premier League statement read: “Premier League Shareholders today agreed temporary changes to the rules relating to substitute players.

“For the remainder of the 2019/20 season, the number of substitutes that can be used during a match will increase from three to five players.

“This is in line with the temporary law amendment made by the International Football Association Board last month.

“Shareholders also approved for Clubs to increase the maximum number of substitute players on the bench from seven to nine for the rest of the 2019/20 season.”

A Premier League statement read: “Premier League Shareholders today agreed temporary changes to the rules relating to substitute players.

“For the remainder of the 2019/20 season, the number of substitutes that can be used during a match will increase from three to five players.

“This is in line with the temporary law amendment made by the International Football Association Board last month.

“Shareholders also approved for Clubs to increase the maximum number of substitute players on the bench from seven to nine for the rest of the 2019/20 season.”

The Germany striker has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League amid interest from the Blues, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Liverpool were thought to be the favourites to sign the 24-year-old, who has publicly praised Jurgen Klopp’s runaway Premier League leaders as the ‘best team in the world’.

But the Reds have cooled their interest in recent weeks as they reassess their transfer options due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Now Chelsea have moved in and Werner is ready to join Frank Lampard’s side.

Werner is understood to have already agreed terms on a long-term contract worth almost £200,000-a-week and the club are in talks with Leipzig to thrash out a deal.

The Germany international has a £53million release clause in his contract which expires in less than a fortnight and Chelsea are expected to pay the full fee.

Werner will become Lampard’s second signing after Chelsea’s transfer ban was lifted in January. Dutch winger Hakim Ziyech is also moving to Stamford Bridge this summer from Ajax in a £33m deal.

Werner has been high in demand after impressing in the Bundesliga and his signing will be a major coup for Lampard and Chelsea.

He has scored 75 goals in 122 matches since making his RB Leipzig debut in 2013. Only Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski (29) has netted more Bundesliga goals than Werner (25) this season.

On Monday, Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann seemed to concede defeat in keeping Werner.

He said: “There is nothing we can do about it. He knows what he has in Leipzig and also what he has with me.

“I show him that – he gets many chances to develop himself. I don’t know if it will help him that much if I tell him every day.

“A player has to feel that he can get better. If he doesn’t feel that, it wouldn’t do any good if I kept on telling him to stay here.

“In the end, it is his life, his career, he can decide that. I can’t think of anything new to say to Timo.”

Even before a case at the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) over Football Kenya Federation’s decision to end the season is heard and determined, the Kenyan Premier League management will convene a Governing Council meeting next week to draw out a plan for football resumption.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed earlier this week stated that the Ministry has put up a team to look at possibilities of resuming sports in the country and it will be headed by Principal Secretary Joe Okudo.

But, their recommendations will only be based on directives from the Ministry of Health over the safety of resuming sports activities and public gatherings.

Kenyan Premier League (KPL) went to the Tribunal after FKF’s decision to call an end to the season and declare Gor Mahia champions over the COVID-19 pandemic which has halted football all over the world.

“A KPL Governing Council meeting will be convened next week depending on the new measures that the Government will announce to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic following the lapse of the 21-day nationwide curfew and cessation of movements in certain counties and local administrative areas on Saturday,” KPL said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to make an announcement over the state of the nationwide curfew as well as rules on cessation of movement in and out of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Mandera counties.

Underlying challenges

It is still to be seen how the league managers plan to end the season, especially bearing in mind their financial difficulties even before the season was halted.

KPL passed down the responsibility of paying referees to clubs while they are yet to pay out the league winning prize money to Gor Mahia for their triumph last season.

Looking at the protocols put out by FIFA for football to return worldwide, it will be an interesting watch to see if the financially struggling KPL clubs will be able to implement.

According to the FIFA guidelines, social distancing is expected to be maintained on travels and accommodation while all players and personnel are expected to be tested regularly. On travels, it would essentially mean that clubs will be expected to have at least two buses to attend matches.

Sharing of facilities

Players will also not be able to share hotel rooms as has been the norm before. Also under FIFA’s guidelines, players are expected to change their uniforms at half time.

With clubs already struggling to pay player salaries, the cost of testing, which will definitely fall on their quarters will be an additional financial burden on the teams.

On Wednesday, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) boss Nick Mwendwa announced they will be waiting for government directives before announcing a roadmap for return to football in anticipation for next season.

The only African league which has continued at this period is Burundi which is set to conclude their campaign next month while Tanzania will resume on June 14.

Tunisia and South Africa have also started plans for resumption. Most leagues in Africa have either been annulled without champions or mid-season league standings used to name champions, like it happened in Uganda.

The National Assembly Committee on Sports has expressed its satisfaction with the renovated Nyayo National Stadium that is close to completion.

The country’s second largest stadium, which has been under renovation since 2017, is close to 95 percent done and set to reopen.

The committee led by Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka toured the facility Thursday where they hailed the contractor and the government for the works done.

“The committee is pleased with the progress of the works here (Nyayo) and we are very pleased that in a week’s time the contractor will be handing over the facility so that the stadium will be ready for use as soon as sporting actions resumes when Covid-19 is contained,” said Munyaka.

Also present in the tour were Sports Kenya chairman Fred Muteti and Director General Pius Metto who thanked the committee for their financial support.

“Through the support we got of the budget we have been able to complete this stadium and we are also in the process of finalizing works at Kasarani. We are prepared now and with the fund I don’t think we will have any further delays,” said Muteti.

Muteti explained that focus will thereafter shift to other stadia in the country that had been earmarked for renovations.

At the same time, Munyaka called for stringent measures to be put in place so as to safeguard the stadium against rogue fans who may end up vandalizing the facility.

“For this good investment to be protected, we need proper investment on crowd control and security within the stadium and its environs so that we don’t have hooligans accessing any event within the stadium,” said Munyaka.

The completion of drainage system, lighting and the cleaning of the tartan track are some of the pending works.

Already the facility has been fitted with seats painted in Kenyan colours while the VIP dias and the parking also refurbished.

The changing rooms also have a new look.

The facility is also in line to host the Nairobi Continental Tour slated for September 26.

The committee also toured the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani

A bus carrying the Benfica soccer team was stoned on Thursday, breaking the glass and injuring two players, after they had played their first game since the novel coronavirus halted the season, Benfica football club said in a statement.

German midfielder Julian Weigl, 24, and Serbian winger Andrija Zivkovic, 23, were hit with shrapnel and taken to the Hospital da Luz in Lisbon to be treated as a precaution, Benfica said.

The attack on a major motorway between the club’s Estadio da Luz and training ground followed Benfica’s first game in three months after the season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sport Lisboa and Benfica denounce and lament the criminal stoning the bus of its players was victim to,” the statement read.

“We guarantee total collaboration with authorities to whom we appeal for the greatest effort to be made in identifying the delinquents responsible for these criminal acts.”

Portuguese champions Benfica missed the chance to move clear of title rivals Porto at the top of the table after being held to a 0-0 draw by lowly Tondela. The top two are now level on 60 points with nine rounds of matches remaining.

Fans had gathered outside the gates of Benfica’s stadium in Lisbon to support the team because restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak prevented them from entering the ground.

Rugby Africa announced it had canceled all its competitions in the 2020 season to protect the health of all the sport’s players and their families.

Rugby Africa said it had held regular, consultative online meetings to talk with federations and doctors concerning the health situation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several competitions have been affected including the Rugby Africa Cup, which was due to kick off at the end of last month.

“The decision to cancel the competitions follows a joint agreement reached with the federations consulted on 7 and 8 May. These bodies want to be able to focus on resuming their activities in the final quarter of 2020, if possible,” the body said in a statement.

Rugby Africa said that the current bans on travel, public gatherings and sporting events across the continent meant that it was unlikely competitions will resume this year. It also noted that not all countries will lift restrictions at the same time, or in the same way, compromising some countries’ participation.

Rugby Africa added that travel costs were expected to increase significantly and potential quarantine requirements could require some players to spend much longer periods abroad.

“This is certainly one of the most difficult decisions we’ve ever had to make but it also seems to be the most reasonable option given the current circumstances,” Rugby Africa Vice President Andrew Owor said.

The body’s medical committee said that differences in evolution of COVID-19 in the continent did not give a clear picture of when it will peak in Africa and when the end is likely.

“There is still too much uncertainty what course the pandemic will take over the next few weeks to feel confident about resuming competition,” Dr. Elvis Tano, head of the RA Medical Committee, said.

Despite the cancellation, Rugby Africa stated that it was working hard to implement local-level activities and competitions by the end of the year.

“There is a consensus among the RA Executive Committee and its member federations to focus efforts on restarting local-level activities and competitions as soon as health conditions permit. The shared desire is to ensure grassroots rugby is relaunched and get national teams ready in an appropriate manner to restart continent-wide competitions in 2021 if possible,” the statement said.

Rugby Africa also said it supported cross-border matches or sub-regional tournaments organized by federations where possible in 2020.

“Rugby Africa’s medical and sports committees will of course review such initiatives first, to ensure that the health situation and government regulations permit rugby events being held.”

Football Kenya federation says it has put in place protocols that will enable clubs prepare for the start of a new Kenyan Premier League season in August.

FKF President Nick Mwendwa confirmed that the Federation is engaging government so that clubs can resume training.

The federation president cancelled the 2019/20 season due to the Coronavirus pandemic with Gor Mahia declared Champions, a decision that has since been contested by KPL and other stakeholders at the SDT.

However, under pressure FKF president has stood by his decision and maintains that government has the final say as to when the season can resume.

“Once we get the guidelines from the government to resume football action, then we will issue a protocol so then KPL clubs and even lower clubs can go back to training,” Mwendwa is quoted.

“We are just waiting for the government to give the directive and that will give FKF the opportunity to explain to clubs what they are supposed to do, [to train amid Covid-19], and everything will return to normal.

“We are already done with the 2019-20 season and now our focus will be for the clubs to embark on training [but with strict rules] as we prepare to kick-off the new season in August.”