Culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, says the government is “opening the door” for the return of football in England in June.
Dowden chaired a meeting on Thursday between the Premier League, English Football League and Football Association.
He said the discussions were “positive” and paved the way for football to return next month after a three-month suspension due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“We all agreed that we will only go ahead if it is safe to do so and the health and welfare of players, coaches and staff comes first,” he said in a statement.
“The government is opening the door for competitive football to return safely in June.
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“The Government and our medical experts will continue to offer guidance and support to the game ahead of any final decision which would put these plans into action,” he said.
The Premier League met earlier this week and discussed plans to return to action on June 12, while teams have been allowed to train in small groups.
However, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam has urged a “measured approach”.
“There will be small, carefully measured, step-wise approaches to see what can be achieved safely. The first of those is to return safely to training, still observing social distancing.
“We will have to see how that goes before we can even think about moving on to the return of competitive football matches,” he added.