Leeds United should be denied promotion if Championship don't play says Norwich City sporting director
Leeds United and West Brom should not be handed promotion to the Premier League if the Championship is not played to a conclusion, according to Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber.
In the past week both the EFL and the FA have laid down expectations for relegation to take place from the top flight, with the latter also insisting there is no option to declare the season null and void. EFL chief Rick Parry warned that a failure to allow promotion to the Premier League would get 'messy' legally.
But Webber says the Canaries, who sit rock bottom of the Premier League table with 21 points from 29 games, six points from safety, won't accept having to play their remaining games and suffer relegation, if the clubs coming up have not had to play for the privilege.
“What we could not accept is a situation where we play all our games and get relegated, but the Championship can’t play, and they automatically promote some teams who haven’t finished the season," he said on the Sky Sports Football Show.
“For anyone who has got promoted from the Championship, it is a 46 or 49 game slog. It needs to be settled on the pitch – both coming up and going down.”
The Premier League and EFL are still exploring the possibility of finishing the season on the pitch, with the government engaged in talks with the top flight in what has been dubbed Project Restart.
Sky pundit Gary Neville says Premier League clubs have a duty to communicate exactly what is being discussed, rather than leaving it to players to address the concerns or possible ways forward.
“The Premier League have been invisible in these last few weeks, the medical experts in football have been invisible in these last few weeks – there was another way of doing this," he said.
“I think at this moment in time we do need to be communicated to properly as a country as to why it’s safe to return to football – not just the players because the fans want to hear it as well.”
Leeds United have maintained throughout football's suspension that their preference is to play their fixtures and continue to work towards a provisional return to training date of May 16.
But should the Championship season be curtailed, the Whites will lobby for promotion based on sporting merit.