Rio Ferdinand says football world must respect any government decision on season restart

Rio Ferdinand says the football world must respect any government decision regarding the restart of season.

The UK is on lockdown until at least May 7 but the Premier League is working on its 'Project Restart' to get the 2019-20 season finished, while the English Football League board and its clubs are also holding meetings on a regular basis.

Former England defender Ferdinand told Good Morning Britain: "We have to go by what the government says. Whatever way they see it, and if they make a decision, we have to respect that.

"Like the isolation and lockdown period, we've been very respectful of that, listened to the guidelines and stayed with that and I think the football world has to be the same.

"(We need to be) governed by the powers that be, that make a decision based on the health of the nation and the players as well."

The picture in continental Europe is mixed at best. The German Bundesliga is preparing to return to action next month, subject to the approval of the authorities, while individual training has been approved to resume in Spain from May 4 and group training has been given the green light in Italy from May 18.

However, the French and Dutch leagues have been forced to end following directives at national government level in those countries.

Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) told parliament earlier this week that he is in discussions to get the Premier League "up and running as soon as possible in order to support the whole football community".

He did add that any resumption was subject to public health guidance.

DCMS will lead meetings between medical officials from sports governing bodies and representatives of Public Health England on a weekly basis, starting this week.

Dale Vince, the chairman of League Two side Forest Green, told the Press Association that June 6 was the earliest resumption date under consideration.

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.