A Premier League statement said: “It was confirmed at a Premier League club meeting today that while recognising a number of clubs are experiencing Covid-19 outbreaks and challenges, it is the League’s collective intention to continue the current fixture schedule where safely possible.

“The health and wellbeing of all concerned remains our priority and the League will continue to monitor and reflect public health guidance, always proceeding with caution.”

The Premier League and its clubs have come under fire for late postponements over the past week and the statement added: “A range of issues were discussed at this afternoon’s meeting, including the adaption of the Premier League Covid-19 postponement process in response to the impact of the Omicron variant.”

Confirming the change to the FA Cup schedule, an FA statement said: “We can today confirm that replays have been removed in both the third and fourth rounds of the 2021-22 Emirates FA Cup.

“This exceptional decision was approved by the FA Board on Friday 17 December and has been taken in the wider interest of English football to alleviate the possibility of fixture congestion following several postponements in recent days and continued uncertainty ahead due to Covid-19.

“Ties in the third and fourth rounds of this season’s competition will be played to a finish on the day, with extra-time and penalty shootouts if required. Replays will return up to and including the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup from the 2022-23 season onwards.”

Scientists warn vaccine uptake is ‘inexcusably slow’ 

By Tom Morgan

Premier League vaccine uptake has been branded “inexcusably slow” by leading scientists after new figures showed nearly a quarter of players are still not double-jabbed.

Top tier executives were told at a meeting on Monday that 77 per cent of players had now received two doses, with 84 per cent having received a single shot.

However, public health experts say progress is “nowhere near fast enough” compared with figures from October, which showed 68 per cent had been double-jabbed and 81 per cent had received one dose.

Premier League chiefs are understood to feel that players are being unfairly singled out, with uptake broadly around the same rate as it is among adults of the same age elsewhere. However, as it emerged that 90 new positive cases had been recorded by the league last week, scientists expressed dismay.

“It’s inexcusably slow and unacceptable for several reasons,” said Prof Gabriel Scally, president of the epidemiology and public health section of the Royal Society of Medicine. “These are supposed to be elite sportspeople who really care about health, their own, and hopefully other people’s. They are spending a lot of time in close quarters with other people from their own squad, but then on matches very, very close to people from other squads. They are mixing, they’re travelling to matches in coaches and sometimes on planes. They’ve got so much exposure to risk. These are elite sportspeople and the public look up to them.”

Prof Keith Neal, who has 25 years of experience in the research of the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, added that infection rates among players “are far too high when compared to other people”.

However, he added that the onus was not only on the Premier League to improve uptake. “Responsibility also rests with the managers and team captains who are more in touch with the players,” he added.

Among efforts to boost uptake, the Premier League has previously issued a video which Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, filmed for it.

Prof Robert Dingwall, a public health specialist at Nottingham Trent University, suggested more could be done to convince the players. “The Premier League should certainly continue to encourage vaccine uptake, but it is also important to understand the reasons for hesitancy,” he said. “Maybe they need to bring in someone independent to explore these, in confidence,  and advise on the best way to talk to them about the risks and benefits.”

Monday’s Premier League meeting also decided to press ahead with its Christmas fixture list as planned, despite the surge in the omicron variant of Covid-19.

With no immediate Government limits on crowds, Scally warned that matches on Boxing Day could represent a major risk of infection for supporters.

However, Neal said he agreed with the decision to press ahead with games from the clubs’ perspectives. “I think the decision not to cancel matches is correct,” he added. “They have big squads. They should be able to stop mass Covid outbreaks; hospital staff manage to stop it and don’t use PPE in the dining rooms.”

Vaccine numbers were published after Premier League chief executive Richard Masters asked clubs to “strongly encourage” players to get the jab. “We have collectively highlighted the importance of vaccination and it has never been more important,” he wrote in a letter to all 20 clubs.

Sports minister Nigel Huddleston and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp have also pleaded with players in recent weeks.

Ninety-two per cent of players and club staff have received one, two or three Covid-19 vaccination doses and the Premier League said it “continues to work with clubs to encourage vaccination among players and club staff, as well as promoting the Government’s public health vaccination messaging to clubs and the wider public”.

Four key Covid issues at emergency meeting

By Ben Rumsby

Vaccination

The number of Premier League players refusing to be vaccinated against coronavirus is arguably the biggest reason so many top-flight matches have been postponed compared to those in Europe’s other major leagues. The most recent figures show almost a third of players in the world’s richest league have not been double-jabbed, compared to eight per cent in La Liga and the Bundesliga and just two per cent in Serie A.