'It would lift spirits of the nation': UK's first secretary of state Dominic Raab optimistic on football's return

Britain's First Secretary of State Dominic Raab has claimed that the return of sports would be a ray of shining light during these dark times that the country is facing.

In Tuesday's government briefing, Raab said: "I think it would lift spirits of the nation and people would like to see us get back to work and children can go to school safely but also past times like sport.

"I know the government has had constructive meetings with sports bodies to plan for athletes' return to training when it's safe.

"I can tell you that the culture secretary has been working on a plan to get sport played behind closed doors when we move to the second phase so that is something we are looking at."

Raab added: "Of course, the key point though, we can only do it when the medical advice and scientific advice is that it can be done safely and sustainably but certainly that is something under active consideration."

Raab's statement echoes that of Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish who wrote a column for the Sunday Times claiming that football could be one of the ways for people 'to move forward mentally, to experience some small relief from the worries of this crisis.'

This is far from a universal point of view: the FIFA medical chief has warned that it would be naive to expect football to return before September, while six clubs reportedly intend to vote against the 'Project Restart' which would see the Premier League resume in June.