Gary Lineker says Premier League season should NOT be cancelled – ‘Finishing would be the fairest thing’
Former England striker Gary Lineker insists it would be ‘the fairest thing’ for the Premier League campaign to be completed as soon as time allows.
Calls for the season to be cancelled have been building over the past week following the Government-led shutdown of the country.
The Premier League has currently been postponed until April 30, but that will almost certainly be extended when club chiefs are next due to meet on April 3.
Last week, all 20 top-flight clubs agreed that their priority was to the complete the season in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, even if that meant playing games behind closed doors.
However, latest reports have claimed an increasing number of sides are in favour of cancelling the remainder of the season ‘on moral grounds’.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand is among those who have publicly insisted the campaign should be scrapped, which would see rivals Liverpool also denied the Premier League title despite being 25 points clear and two wins away from glory.
Man City star Ilkay Gundogan, meanwhile, has said it would be 'fair' to crown Liverpool as champions, even if the season was cancelled.
But Lineker believes completing the campaign would be the best outcome for everyone.
“I think ideally we’d like to finish the season, I think that would make sense,” the footballer-turned-broadcaster told talkSPORT on Monday.
“But this whole situation is so fluid and much more important than anything, it’s difficult to know when it’s going to go away.
“We could be able to play again by June, it might have calmed down enough, whether that will be behind doors, which is not really what football’s about, but it would help to finish the leagues.
“That’s the thing everybody would want to happen, except perhaps some supporters who really don’t like Liverpool.
“I think that would be the fairest thing.
“Legally it would be easier right across the board if they could finish the league, whether it’s possible or not, I don’t know. When do they start again, in June, July, August?
“The one thing I’ll say at the moment is the players are having their rest now and it’s not the rest they would want, it’s not the holiday they would want, but once they get back and have a couple of weeks training to start the season again, they certainly wouldn’t need another pre-season between the seasons.
“Conceivably, if they get playing early enough, they can go immediately into next season.
“It’s not the scenario we would want, but whether it will happen or not, who knows.”