Tom Harrison, the chief executive of the ECB, said: “Clearly there will need to be a significant testing regime in place. I'm not sure if quarantined is the right word but there will need to be areas of the ground where only certain people are allowed to go at certain points.

“It will be like multiple levels of PMOA (players and match officials) across the ground for different levels of accreditation, the implications on accreditation are really serious – right down to the certain corridors you are allowed to use.”

Premiership Rugby estimates it will require close to 100 staff covering medics, match officials, TV crews and grounds staff. Playing and coaching staff, conditioners and physiotherapists would total another 66 people.

Horse racing will similarly looking to what is happening in Germany where the sport is due to resume on May 4, with France a week layer. The British Horseracing Authority-led Resumption of Racing Group has a variety of models. The BHA has put some numbers on it; a maximum field size of 12 runners, a couple of fixtures a day (one north, one south), restricting it to senior jockeys to reduce the risk of accidents, and more races per fixture but it is reluctant to put a figure on how many people would have to be present to run a meeting.

However at a meeting staging nine 12-runner races the number of grooms, jockeys, officials, stalls handlers, private medical team and broadcasters would come to about 250.

As Telegraph Sport reported last week football has already gone into far more detail and that, it can be revealed, includes drawing up a specific list of how many people can be allowed into games. The estimate is that there will be 20 players for each club – therefore 40 players – plus 16 coaches and medical staff per squad (totalling 32).

The next tier down is match officials with a total of six plus another six people, who work for Hawk-Eye, to operate goal-line technology, the communication systems used by the referees and VAR technology. Then there are four people for doping control and four to move the so-called ‘match-day furniture’ which presumably includes all the sponsors and branding signs. The tunnel doctor and club doctors will total around another eight people with three Premier League staff at every game (match-day co-ordinator, delegate and match manager).

At present the plan is to allow in 28 written media from newspapers and websites and two photographers with the vast majority of the media, 100 with access to the stadium for live games, coming from the television and radio ‘broadcast partners’ ie. the rights holders who are paying the money which makes the Premier League so desperate to complete the 92 remaining games.

Testing, social distancing and hygiene will be key to getting sport back into action although it all remains contingent on the Government easing lockdown restrictions which are currently in place until May 7. There is no provision for ball boys although they may be included under ground staff.

A return to training is already been phased in for the three weeks ahead of the proposed June 8 kick-off although clubs are expected to try and re-start before then in a strictly controlled environment with players taking their own temperature, driving to training in their kit, observing social distancing when they park and training on their own and not, to begin with, even entering the training ground buildings.

Arsenal have confirmed their players will return this week to their London Colney training ground but added it will be under a very controlled regime. “All Colney buildings remain closed, Players will travel alone, do their individual work-out and return home,” the club said. This is in line with the Premier League proposals and follows four players – Alexandre Lacazette, David Luiz, Nicolas Pépé and Granit Xhaka – being photographed breaking social distancing guidelines.

The Premier League plan is to eventually play games at ‘approved’ stadia – suggesting not all grounds will be used and games might take place at neutral venues – and creating as sterile an environment as possible. Players will carry out further health checks, with screening as they enter the stadium through temperature scanners, and social distancing observed as they get changed in more than one changing room per team. There will be no pre-match handshake and a minimal amount of time spent at the stadium after the game.

All the sports are acutely aware that testing players cannot, though, take priority over front-line staff who are dealing with the coronavirus crisis.