Although many restrictions have been lifted from football, the coronavirus epidemic will still impact England's game.This weekend, the new English football season begins with EFL Cup games. But does a flurry pre-season fixture cancellations suggest that another campaign will be affected by the coronavius epidemic?The first domestic competitive fixtures without coronavirus restrictions since March 2020 are the matches at Bournemouth Wednesday and Sheffield Wednesday.Although they are decreasing, covid-19 infections are still high. There is a national record of self-isolation alerts from NHS contacts tracing that has raised concerns about a 'pingdemic spreading to football. As a result of recent outbreaks, a number pre-season fixtures were cancelled or disrupted.Manchester United's friendly against Preston on Saturday was the latest to be cancelled due to positive cases. While Norwich were similarly affected, Arsenal pulled their US preseason tour, and Newcastle lost three goalkeepers to external-link to self isolation for one fixture.With the new season just around the corner, is chaos possible?BBC Sport examines the changes made and why there could be a problem with football.Higher risk for playersAfter Thursday's preseason match between Liverpool and Hertha Berlin, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain took photos with the fans.Last season, the Professional Footballers Association paid 5m to test players across the English Football League.There is no need to test this term.All parties agree that footballers are more at risk of contracting coronavirus and being 'pinged as a close contact' than last season. This is because they were living in elite bubbles and had less interaction with the public in their personal and professional lives.The leagues now have the freedom to operate as they wish, with no restrictions for the general public. This means that clubs are not required to test their players at this time.All clubs have been issued guidelines by the EFL for matchday training. There are two types of protocols under that guidance: red and green. The green protocols are used by most clubs. They rely on daily screening to determine if any staff or players are suffering from symptoms. This is better than doing nothing, according to the EFL.Red protocols will be activated if there is a coronavirus epidemic in the area; if the government imposes restrictions locally or nationally; or if EFL physicians performing spot checks at clubs discover that the regulations are not being followed.After consultation with clubs, the league would make moves to red protocols. This would include testing.Hillsborough will be welcoming back fans at the beginning of the seasonBBC Sport has confirmed that the players of Sheffield Wednesday will not be tested for symptoms in Sunday's EFL Cup match at Hillsborough.Huddersfield will, however.According to the Terriers, lateral flow testing two times per week is the best way to be aware of any potential problem. These tests are funded by Huddersfield, which continues to receive Premier League parachute payments.It is evident that clubs cannot determine how many or which players have coronavirus if they don't test.Matches could be called off if tests are conducted for any reason.After positive tests, Nottingham Forest had to cancel their behind-closed-doors game with Aston Villa on 28 July. Norwich was forced to abandon plans to host Coventry.Forest pulled out of the match against Burnley that was scheduled for 31 July. After positive tests, Arsenal pulled out of the tournament in the United States and Chelsea was forced to play in Dublin.Premier League testing will continueRed zones are designated for pitchesPremier League will continue to test two times per week and publish the results. This season, however, players will not have PCR tests as they did last season. Instead, they will be subject to lateral flow tests in order to save money and speed up the process.The Premier League plans to increase the number of players and employees who take these tests to 100. If any results are positive, a test for PCR will be conducted.Red zones will continue to be operated by the Premier League for senior staff and players.Clubs will be asked to keep up with established virtual media conferences for the first few weeks at most.Questions about the government's fan schemeHillsborough will host a crowd of approximately 8,000 for Wednesday's first game since the pandemic. There will be no social distancing measures at Hillsborough, except in the media area. Supporters will not need to wear masks.It is not necessary to show proof of vaccination status, or negative results from previous tests.Officials note that the club averaged more than 24,000 fans in its last season without any restrictions. However, they also question the feasibility of making this mandatory for stadiums hosting crowds above 20,000. This plan will be tested in pre-season matches at Chelsea and Tottenham next month.Clubs will hope that after two campaigns in the shadow of the pandemic the season can slowly return to normality.
