Premier League and Bundesliga to ease face-covering restrictions

Players and coaching staff in the Premier League will not be required to wear face masks when the league resumes on 17 June. That extends to substitutes on the bench and players in the changing rooms and tunnel, although the fourth official and club doctors will be expected to wear them pitch-side.

The Premier League have called on players not to spit or clear their nose during games and hugging celebrations have been outlawed in a bid to maintain social distancing measures as much as possible.

Bundesliga ditches face masks

In the opening weeks in Germany the sight of substitutes wearing masks had become common as the Bundesliga to an ultra-cautious approach to its restart. Borussia Dortmund in particular were notable for their club-branded face protection which were soon made available to buy through the online club shop and proved incredibly popular.

Dortmund’s managing director Carsten Cramer revealed that within minutes the website had crashed due to the volume of orders:

"No wonder, thousands of orders were received within the first few minutes. The yellow and black protective masks against the corona virus are in great demand. After only 20 minutes, the mark of 50,000 orders was reached”.

The masks are now available to pre-order but from Friday the Dortmund substitutes will no longer be wearing them after the German federation announced that they were easing the rules, provided those on the bench remain 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart.

Masks now compulsory on UK public transport

The Premier League is now in line with the Bundesliga’s guidance on face masks but the announcement comes in the same week that the UK government encouraged people to use them when in public.

From 15 June people in England will be required to wear ‘face covering’ wherever social distancing is not possible, like on public transport or in supermarkets.

Taxi service Uber made a similar decision on Friday, telling users that from 15 June face masks will be mandatory under a strict ‘No mask, no ride’ policy.

The BBC’s science editor David Shukman revealed that there have been widespread disagreements about the efficacy of face masks in the scientific community, but that it could help the UK return to normality:

“Even advocates would agree that the public wearing masks will not defeat the virus on its own; but it's a potentially useful extra tool as we come out of lockdown.”