Ilkay Gundogan: Fair to award Liverpool Premier League title if season not completed

Author: BBC Sport – Football

It would only be “fair” to award Liverpool the Premier League title if the season is not completed because of coronavirus, says Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

With football in England suspended until at least 30 April, Liverpool have a 25-point lead over defending champions City and are two wins from a first top-flight title in 30 years.

Asked if the Reds should be given the trophy if the season is cut short, Gudogan told German broadcaster ZDF: “For me, that would be OK, yes.”

“You have to be fair as a sportsperson,” the 29-year-old Germany international added.

Premier League clubs are due to meet on 3 April, when it is almost certain the current postponement until the end of April will be extended again. That will take it past the official end of the English Football League season and towards the last round of Premier League fixtures, which was supposed to be on 17 May.

Aleksander Ceferin, president of European football’s governing body Uefa, said on Saturday the 2019-20 campaign could be lost if it cannot be restarted by the end of June.

Gundogan acknowledged football authorities faced a difficult decision because of the impact that cancellation of the season would have at both ends of the Premier League table.

“There are different opinions. For clubs who have had a very good season, it obviously wouldn’t be nice if it was cancelled now,” he said.

“On the other hand, for clubs who aren’t doing as well and are maybe in the relegation places, an abandonment would obviously suit them.”

Gundogan added that he would be prepared to take a pay cut if English clubs went down the route of Juventus and Borussia Dortmund in asking players to accept reduced wages so that other staff can be paid.

“Of course I think it’s OK, that goes without saying – [but] there’s been no discussion in England yet,” he said.