What's on line NOW as Portsmouth, Sunderland, Ipswich and other EFL members meet to decide where season 's headed

This isn’t your jovial family Zoom catch-up on a Saturday night.
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The EFL member video call taking place now is set to have a massive bearing on the way the football season is headed for its 71 members.

That’s 71 vastly different needs, agendas and corners being fought - and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

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They believe their cause to be the one with the greatest sporting integrity, one which avoids the vast and bewildering swathe of models and formulas proffered amid the suspension to the campaign through the coronavirus crisis.

Many of their opponents counter theirs is a more pressing agenda - a battle to remain in existence, one which demands more focus than their league obligations.

Whatever their views, both camps can agree safety along with the health of players, staff and wider society has to be front and centre.

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No one should pretend the respective arguments aren’t soaked in self-interest and with clubs from AFC Wimbledon to Sunderland, from Accrington to Pompey in the same division their needs are polarised.

The mood among members appeared to be weighted towards the season being cancelled but this narrative has veered dramatically throughout and the meeting takes place in a week in which the government has taken its biggest steps towards a return for elite sport.

EFL chairman Rick Parry will present the options on the table at this stage with clubs likely to carry out a non-binding indicative vote at the end of what will be intense talks.

So today potentially marks a significant moment in deciding the way forward over nine weeks on from Pompey last kicking a competitive ball.

It’s unlikely to definitive - but expect the conclusions reach this morning to tell us exactly where the Blues’ promotion bid is going.

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