Aston Villa Chief Says Premier League Clubs Want Relegation Scrapped for 2019-20

Aston Villa sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch has said Premier League clubs are in favour of scrapping relegation in 2019-20 after the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Pitarch told Cope's Game Time (h/t Ollie Lewis for MailOnline) that if the decision is made to cancel the season then no teams should drop down to the Championship.

"At Aston Villa we are beginning to think about this. If the peak of the Coronavirus is to occur in May, no one thinks of a competition in which players, coaches, and health personnel of the club will continue to appear every day.

"There are clubs that do not see admissible that the competition resumes on June 30th. The most reasonable thing that everyone thinks is that, if the league has to be stopped, that there are no relegations.

"There is a certain unanimity that there should be no descent. The biggest discussion is on whether to determine the European positions, to take as a reference the previous season or as it stands this season."

The Premier League has been halted until April 3 at the least because of the coronavirus outbreak, but it seems likely the shutdown will continue, leading to doubt over whether the season can be completed.

FA chief Greg Clarke has reportedly told Premier League clubs the current campaign "cannot be finished" because the virus is not due to peak until June, according to The Times (h/t Carrie Dunn at Eurosport).

West Ham United vice-chair Karren Brady, wrote in The Sun the season should be declared "null and void" if fixtures cannot be completed.

Brady subsequently took to Twitter to clarify her comments after coming in for criticism:

Aston Villa have battled relegation in 2019-20 and are currently in the bottom three along with Norwich City and Bournemouth. However, the Villans have played one game less than their relegation rivals and victory in that match would take them out of the drop zone.

The Premier League are due to hold a meeting on Thursday with clubs to discuss how best to proceed, per Sky Sports.