Major League Soccer is making steps toward restarting the season. On May 1, the league announced that players may now use outdoor team facilities for individual workouts. Player workouts must be in accordance with public policy and are not mandatory.
The league’s new workout protocol still prohibits access to club facilities “including but not limited to locker rooms, team gyms and team training rooms.” MLS said team gyms and training rooms are still accessible for players “receiving post-operative and rehabilitation treatment,” however.
Teams with players who plan on participating in individual workouts must first submit a proposal to MLS that elaborates on team-specific health and safety protocols, including the following:
- Restricting training-facility access to essential staff only, with specific staff listed in the plan
- Sanitization and disinfection plans for all training equipment and spaces, including disinfection of any equipment used by players (e.g., balls, cones, goals) between every session
- Completion of a standard-screening assessment survey by each player prior to every arrival at the training site and temperature checks upon arrival at the facility
- Staggered player and staff arrivals and departures, with designated parking spaces to maintain maximum distance between vehicles
- Player use of personal protective equipment from the parking lot to the field and again on return to the parking lot
- Staff use of the appropriate personal protective equipment throughout training while also maintaining a minimum distance of 10 feet from players at all times
- Hand-washing and disinfectant stations for required use before and after individual workouts
- Outdoor fields at training facility divided into a maximum of four quadrants per field with a maximum of one player per quadrant who may participate per training session without equipment-sharing or playing (e.g., passing, shooting) between players
- An emergency-action plan for all COVID-19-related issues
Plans are to be approved by the each respective club’s medical staff as well as local infectious-disease experts before they can be submitted to MLS. Per the league, a member of each club’s staff will oversee his or her organization’s adherence to league and club protocols.
MLS’s league-wide training moratorium is currently slated to last through May 15. It has been in place since March 12. Orlando City SC is 0-1-1 through two games, so far, in 2020.
For more on the Lions and the Pride, as the coronavirus situation continues to evolve, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
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