THE Premier League sought “urgent advice” from the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam in the wake of Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis becoming infected with coronavirus.

Documents obtained under a freedom of information request revealed that the league’s executive director Bill Bush emailed government officials, including Anna Deignan, the head of sport at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on March 11, two days before the English professional game was suspended due to the pandemic.

Bush was concerned that top-flight clubs were taking individual advice from local health authorities on how to make themselves Covid-secure and admitted “a lot of wheel reinvention is taking place.”