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Chelsea: Six thoughts on cancelling or continuing the league

By The Pride of London Staff

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 18: Frank Lampard, Manager of Chelsea (L) looks on from the bench with his coaching staff during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on August 18, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 18: Frank Lampard, Manager of Chelsea (L) looks on from the bench with his coaching staff during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on August 18, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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chelsea, n'golo kante
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 09: N’Golo Kante of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on November 9, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /

Varun Dani: Merge this season with the next

As I had put out in my piece some time back, restart and cancelling are two ends of extremity, the result of which will not be pretty. Cancelling the league outright would not be fair to the teams that have performed well through sheer hard work and planning, and rushing a restart to finish competitions while endangering the lives of everyone involved would be highly irresponsible.

My solution to this is Project Merge; merging the 19/20 and 20/21 seasons to form one mega season. The concept would retain the current table and results, waiting for the entire Coronavirus situation to blow over and then add all the games left in the 20/21 season.

Teams like Liverpool would have their massive lead over points and teams like Bournemouth would not be relegated prematurely. It is a win-win for everybody.

Nate Hoffman: Cancel because money is not worth more than human life

Let us take basic morality out of the equation for a moment. Sporting integrity and the joy of competition are not the driving factors behind the push to resume play; it is all about the cold hard cash.

Media companies around the world write eye watering checks for the rights to broadcast matches, and the league’s failure to provide the requisite number of matches will leave those broadcasters looking to recoup some of that investment. With a £9 billion deal in place for the 2019-2022 cycle, broadcasters will probably request something in the neighborhood of £750 million from the league. Obviously, Chelsea would be held responsible for a share of that bill, but that only comes out to around £37 million; roughly one Jorginho sold to Juventus. It is not ideal, but certainly doable.

What is more, the financial boon of being guaranteed another year of Champions League revenue (discounted as it may be) will at least partially make up for the loss. So, if money is the only meaningful reason for the Premier League to return, and Chelsea are arguably just as well off whether the season finishes or not, what is left to break that stalemate? Oh yeah, basic regard for human life.

That little matter tilts the scales in favor of cancellation. If Chelsea can just about break even financially and minimize their chances of exacerbating the pandemic, that sounds like a pretty good deal to me. No promotion, no relegation, just leave no trace of this godforsaken season. See you in August.

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