Vehemently oppose scheduled Championship return date: QPR

London, June 1 (IANS) English Championship side Queens Park Rangers (QPR) chief executive Lee Hoos on Monday said they "vehemently" oppose the decision to set June 20 as the provisional restart date for the English Football League (EFL) Championship.Hoos added that there was no consultation with individual clubs and that they were made aware of the statement 40 minutes before it was made public."I am absolutely stunned by this announcement, as is our Director of Football Les Ferdinand and our manager Mark Warburton," Hoos told the QPR's official website, www.qpr.co.uk."Incredibly, there has been absolutely no consultation with individual clubs nor with the Championship doctors' working group by the divisional representatives -- or anyone else in the Football League -- regarding this matter."On top of that, we were only made aware of the statement 40 minutes before it was made public."Having spoken with Les and Mark, they share my views. We are vehemently opposed to this schedule."He further said the players haven't yet returned to full-contact training. "The players haven't even returned to full-contact training at this moment and yet they are now expected to be in a position to play at a competitive level in just three weeks' time."I have made our feelings known to the EFL and, having spoken with a number of CEOs at other Championship clubs, I am not a lone voice on this matter."We are absolutely appalled."Earlier, the EFL set June 20 as the provisional restart date for the Championship amid the COVID-19 pandemic. There are 108 regular season matches remaining, plus the end-of-season play-offs.The United Kingdom government has permitted the return of competitive sport behind closed doors from June 1.EFL further said that the Championship play-off final is set to be concluded on or around July 30.
--IANS dm/bbh