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Leicester games may be postponed or moved due to coronavirus lockdown, says Premier League chief

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has warned that Leicester matches may have to be postponed or moved to a neutral stadium after the city went into full lockdown.

However, the club has said it does not expect anything to change due to the safety measures they already have in place.

While many places in England are preparing to ease restrictions on pubs and restaurants, a rise in coronavirus cases has forced Leicester to impose stricter restrictions this week, with schools closing on Thursday and non-essential shops to be shut for the next two weeks.

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Health secretary Matt Hancock said that around "10 percent of all positive cases in the country over the past week" have come from Leicester and told the House of Commons on Monday that residents should stay at home as much as possible and only travel when essential.

The restrictions could affect the Foxes as they look to play their last seven Premier League matches of the season and Masters says the English top-flight and officials at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are discussing the situation.

"Just about every eventualilty between our officials and DCMS officials has been discussed at some point," he told Sky Sports.

"So, we've had a huge dialogue with the authorities about the concept of neutral venues and if what is happening in Leicester, which we're waiting to hear, does affect the club's ability to host home games, either the match on Saturday against Crystal Palace at 3pm, or subsequent matches.

"Then we have the opportunity to play those matches elsewhere or postpone them until a date when it is safe to do so."

The league's CEO would not rule out the rest of the campaign being cancelled if other areas are forced to follow Leicester's example and introduce new measures to contain the spread of the virus.

"If that were to happen in multiple areas or the virus creates other risks then obviously there is that risk that we might not be able to complete the season," he added. "We've got to get to the end of July, complete our 380 games and as I said look cautiously optimistic to the season of 2020-21."

But the Foxes released a statement to clarify that they do not expect games to be affected by the lockdown and that they will continue to train as they have in recent weeks.

"All parties remain entirely satisfied that, through the continued implementation of our Covid-19 operations plan, the Club’s football operations can continue to safely function under existing protocols and, in doing so, there will be no greater risk posed to Club personnel, visiting teams or our surrounding communities," the statement read.

"Consequently, first team training will continue at Belvoir Drive and our forthcoming Premier League fixtures remain unaffected.

"The Club remains agile to the evolving nature of the situation and suitable continuity arrangements are in place in the event we are required to deviate from our existing protocols."

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