London (AFP)

It is a sigh of relief for football fans on the planet: suspended for 3 months, the Premier League, the most followed national championship in the world, will make its return on June 17 on the field and on screens.

While the Bundesliga had taken the plunge in mid-May, while Spain is still refining its calendar and Italy is hoping for an imminent government green light, English football is finally coming to an end.

This agreement in principle, revealed by several media, was found between the 20 elite clubs and broadcasters on a highly symbolic date.

Wednesday, June 17 - exactly 100 days after Leicester's 4-0 victory over Aston Villa, the last Premier League game before the coronavirus breaks the season - will be played two games behind schedule to update the schedule.

Manchester City and the Villans, who faced off in the League Cup final, will receive Arsenal and Sheffield United respectively.

The following weekend, between Friday the 19th and Sunday the 21st will be held the first of the 9 full days remaining.

- The 92 remaining matches broadcast on TV -

While some clubs would have preferred an extra week to better prepare the players and limit the risk of injury, the TV rights holders won.

It must be said that they were in a position of strength since they could claim up to 340 M GBP (380 M EUR) in reimbursement of the rights, considering that the end of the season behind closed doors and turned upside down did not correspond to the contract initially signed.

In any case, this will remain much lower than the 762 M GBP (849 M EUR) that an outright cancellation of the end of the season would have cost.

Broadcasters will be able to console themselves with a profusion of matches to put on their antennas, since the programming of the remaining days must allow viewers to see the 92 matches still on the calendar.

In addition to Sky Sports and BT Sport, the two major players who have the rights to 47 of these matches, Amazon Prime, which made its debut on the broadcast of English football this season, and the BBC, supported by the government, hope to recover a few crumbs from the fabulous cake.

According to The Times on Thursday, the main goal is to finish the season on August 2, which would allow 7 weeks to fit 9 days.

- Thrilling end of season -

Seven would take place on weekends and two would be interspersed midweek, the newspaper said.

The English Cup final would take place on August 8.

English football had already taken a decisive step on Wednesday by unanimously authorizing contact training.

In the evening, encouraging new results from coronavirus testing of players and coaches had further boosted confidence in the upcoming restart of competition.

With 12 positive cases out of more than 2,700 tests in the first three waves of generalized tests, the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit Britain so badly, seems under control in the world of football.

If the situation remains as is, the end of the season should in any case be thrilling in England.

Not for the title, promised in Liverpool with its 25 points ahead of City, even if the Sky Blues have one more game to play, but for the maintenance race and especially in the Champions League where there is only 9 points between Chelsea, 4th and virtual qualifier for the Champions League and the 11th Crystal Palace.

© 2020 AFP