Season-ticket holders at Championship clubs will be able to watch their team’s remaining regular-season games online, the EFL has announced.
Access, via the iFollow service, will be determined by the club with which the supporter holds the season ticket.
It “may be in lieu of a refund or part of a wider package as determined by each individual club”.
The arrangement includes any of the 30 regular-season games involving their club being shown by Sky Sports.
None of the remaining 108 games will be shown on free-to-air television, while watching a stream of an individual Championship fixture via iFollow will cost a non-season ticket holder £10.
The EFL has also announced further details about its provisional schedule, with the season set to resume on 20 June “subject to the strict proviso that all safety requirements and government guidance are met”.
Once the Championship season restarts, the first two rounds of action will take place on the weekends of 20-21 and 27-28 June, with no midweek round of fixtures in the first week after the resumption.
The final games of the regular campaign are scheduled for 21-22 July, with the play-off final planned for either Sunday 2 August or Monday 3 August.
The fixture schedule is in the process of being finalised by the EFL, but games will take place over six time slots from Friday to Sunday, and three slots on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for midweek rounds.
Games will kick off at 18:00 and 20:00 on Fridays, 12:30, 15:00 and 17:30 on Saturdays and 12:00 on Sundays (all times BST).
Midweek matches will start at 17:00, 18:00 and 20:00.
Rick Parry, Chairman, EFL
EFL chairman Rick Parry said he was “delighted that “an agreeable and sensible arrangement” had been reached, which “ensures the financial impact to clubs is minimised”.
“There is no question that Covid-19 has detrimentally affected all industries,” he added in a statement.
“While we have only ever wanted to return when it is safe to do, we have always understood that when we did, we had to balance the requirements of our broadcast partners with the unique and challenging financial circumstances that our clubs face.
“Importantly, fans get access to games during a period where guidelines prevent them from attending in person.”
Sky Sports will televise all 15 play-off matches across the three EFL divisions.
No Championship fixtures have been played since 8 March, with the campaign suspended five days later because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Clubs returned to non-contact training on 25 May and have since been able to move on to the next phase of contact training.
Sunday’s announcement about a provisional restart date which led to criticism from some second-tier clubs, including QPR, who wanted more time for players to prepare for a resumption.
Players and staff are being regularly tested for coronavirus, and there were nine positive tests from six clubs in the latest round of results which were announced on Wednesday.
Original article 05.06.20 on BBC website
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