There will be no football in England until the beginning of May at the earliest. The announcement, in a joint statement from the Premier League, Football Association and English Football League came six days after an initial decision to suspend all leagues until April 3.
That initial date had always been seen as a placeholder while the severity of the coronavirus threat was assessed, and that no provisional date for a restart has been set this time seemed a tacit acknowledgement that the delay may go on much longer than that.
But perhaps the most significant part of the joint statement, which came after an emergency conference call with all 20 Premier League clubs, was the waiving of the stipulation that the season be finished by June 1, with the new limit "extended indefinitely.