Masters said: "The Premier League welcomes the government's announcement today [Sunday AEST]. All major sports, including the Premier League, have been working together with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to produce this stage three protocol.

"We could not have reached this point without the full support of the government, especially DCMS, Public Health England and the chief medical officer's team.

"We have provisionally planned to restart the Premier League on 17 June, but there is still much work to be done to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

"This includes consulting with our clubs, players and managers — along with all our other stakeholders — as the health and welfare of our participants and supporters is our priority.

"If all goes well, we will be thrilled to resume the 2019-2020 season in just over two weeks' time."

The Premier League tested more than 1000 personnel across the clubs in the past few days and announced on Sunday (AEST) than none of those tests had returned positive results for COVID-19, adding further optimism to plans for a resumption of the season.