Following the government's announcement that football may be able to return on 1 June, the Premier League now has a clearer idea of what the future holds. Finally.

Unfortunately, there are still plenty of obstacles to overcome. Clubs are butting heads over the idea of using neutral venues or scrapping relegation, and there's also the small matter of an enormous financial penalty if the season gets altered too much.

Here's the latest on where the Premier League is at.


Cancelling Season Discussed for 1st Time

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters Media Briefing
Since football was first postponed, the goal has been for the Premier League to return at some point, and while that ambition hasn't changed, the idea of cancelling the season was discussed for the first time during a meeting on Monday.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters revealed (via The Mirror): “It was the first time we discussed curtailment – it’s still our aim to finish the season obviously but it’s important to discuss all the options with our clubs.

“The discussions about curtailment are contingency planning. All the discussions were about concluding the season but it prudent to have a look at what might happen in alternative scenarios. These were confidential."


FA Refuse to Scrap Relegation or Void Season

Chelsea v Manchester City - FA Youth Cup Final: Second Leg
While the idea of ending the season prematurely has been mentioned, The Times note that voiding the season is firmly off the table and clubs are in agreement that final standings should be deciding on sporting merit - preferably after all 38 games have been played.
 FA chairman Greg Clarke warned all 20 sides that the 2019/20 season will have a final league table, and those standings will lead to the relegation of the three bottom sides, despite plenty of teams pushing for relegation to be scrapped.

The FA must consent to any decision which impacts promotion or relegation in the Premier League, so they have the power to veto any attempt to get rid of the drop.



FA Losing Patience With Bottom 3 Sides

Aston Villa v Norwich City - Premier League
As noted by the Daily Star, the only reason that the FA involved themselves in talks was because of 'in-fighting' among the 20 teams.

The current bottom three – Norwich City, Aston Villa and Bournemouth - have all been urged to accept Project Restart and give up fighting for relegation to be scrapped. One of those sides is even thought to have called for the season to be cancelled.

Clubs will be asked to vote on a return to action in the near future, and the FA have warned the bottom three that they will have no choice but to agree.


UEFA to Extend Deadline

NETHERLANDS-UEFA-FBL-SPORT

UEFA's initial guidelines on a return to football called on every league to have a solution by 25 May, but the Liverpool Echo state that there is a chance UEFA will extend that deadline if the Premier League fail to come up with a plan.

The governing body are believed to be sympathetic to the difficulty of the current negotiations and they don't want to add any unnecessary stress, so it seems likely that they could extend the deadline to allow the Premier League to iron out the issues at hand.


Clubs Facing Huge Bill to Broadcasters

Manchester United v Wigan Athletic - FA Youth Cup: Sixth Round
Fulfilling their huge broadcasting contracts has been a top priority for the Premier League, but even if football does return, there could still be enormous financial repercussions.

That's according to BBC Sport, who state that all 20 clubs may have to pay a combined £340m to broadcasters if the season returns as fixtures will be played out of schedule and without fans, which the broadcasters obviously didn't agree to before the start of the season.

"Whatever happens, there's going to be significant loss of revenue for clubs. That is inevitable," Masters admitted.


Contract Extensions for Expiring Deals Agreed

Chelsea FC v Newcastle United FC - Premier League
If the Premier League returns, it will almost certainly run past 30 June, which is when several players' contracts will expire.

The Independent note that clubs voted to have the ability to extend any expiring contracts, but only if both the club and player are wiling to do so, and any agreement must be communicated to the Premier League by 23 June.

The option is now there for contracts to be extended, but it is by no means a guarantee. If either a player or a club is ready to cut ties immediately, then there is nothing anybody can do to stop them.