The Dundalk squad celebrate their 2019 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title win at Oriel Park last October. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

League of Ireland players would have to record their temperature before leaving home for every training session under the terms of a proposed return to football activity, with maximum groups of five and the banning of GPS monitors amongst the initial stipulations.

Teams taking two buses to away games, players showering one at a time after every match, and the staggered departure of participants from dressing rooms are just some of the social distancing-friendly recommendations on the agenda for matchday itself if clubs and government green light the FAI's plan to play games behind closed doors.

They are significant obstacles seeing as the FAI's working document entitled 'Return To Football – Behind Closed Doors' does not yet have any financial details to appease concerns of clubs that are vehemently opposed to the concept while any plan could be vetoed by HSE guidelines.

The FAI's draft - seen by Independent.ie - suggests that games would restart after six weeks of training, although it is possible the lead-in time could be reduced to four weeks.

To meet the current target of a June 19 restart, players would have to report back from next week but the expectation that government will not ease restrictions for another fortnight means that all timelines will have to be adjusted accordingly.

However, the FAI have dispatched their ideas on the practicalities of how training and match days would operate.

Stakeholders (clubs, players and referees) must offer their feedback before the end of this week when more financial information should be available after 18 of the 19 clubs submit their estimates on how much money they would lose from playing games without spectators.

But it's unclear when Abbotstown will have information on financial support from FIFA, which ultimately holds the key to any resumption - and winning over sceptics with officials from Finn Harps and St Patrick's Athletic vocal on their belief there will be no games until September at the earliest.

There is a distinction in the FAI document between the conditions for training and for matchday itself.

Protocols advised by world players union FIFPRO were factored into Abbotstown considerations.

For training, recommendations include that players would initially train in maximum groups of five with no contact occurring and the use of GPS monitors would be forbidden. Players would bring their own rehydration fluids and foods and take their own gear and equipment home to be washed afterwards.

Other conditions include:

- Players travelling alone to sessions but they can be dropped off by household contacts

- They must record their temperature before leaving home, and if it's greater than or equal to 37.6 they must contact club medical staff ahead of departure and they will then decide if they should attend or be referred to a GP

- All players should check their temperature with a thermometer 4 hours after they arrive home from the training session. This should be rechecked 4 hours later, and both reported to the team medical staff.

- Players should arrive in training gear and change into football boots in their car

- Their temperature upon arrival should be re-checked by a designated club official

- There should be no use of training rooms or indoor meetings

- Any outdoor meetings should be for no longer than 10 minutes with social distancing measures observed

- All training equipment (balls, bags, small goals, poles, cones) should be sterilized with disinfectant before and after the session. Goal posts should be wiped down after each session.

Meanwhile, the draft document details how matchday operations would account for a maximum of 214 people being in the stadium, ranging from players and officials and ballboys/ballgirls to broadcasters, media and match delegates.

Proposed terms and conditions for the day of a closed door game include:

- Teams travelling long distances should abide by the Safe Distancing Guidelines when on the team bus. This may mean getting two (disinfected) team buses to a match venue

- Teams arriving to the stadium should be timed so they don’t arrive together.

- Access to the field of play should be coordinated so that the teams and match officials enter at different times and also for going from field of play to changing rooms

- Special plans for pre-match meals with different arrangements for home and away sides

- After the game, individual shower facilities would have to be in place or else players would have to enter the shower area one at a time

- Kit should be washed immediately after the final whistle.

- All players should have their own accessories throughout the whole of match-day (water bottles, tape, bandages, sprays)

- Deep clean and disinfection of changing rooms should take place on match-day.

All clubs would have to appoint a Covid-19 regulator who would oversee all of these operations.

Personnel would have to be checked in and out of the stadium, with a central register of those present maintained.

Players and backroom staff would have to fill out a health related questionnaire before they could get back on the training pitch.

It was confirmed to clubs last week that regular testing and a full analysis of all training venues and stadiums would be mandatory. Medical personnel at each club would have to maintain a file with the status of their employees.

Online Editors