UK Edition
No guarantee Liverpool would be crowned Premier League champions if season curtailed by coronavirus
There is also no guarantee the bottom three clubs would not be relegated
Liverpool would not necessarily be crowned Premier League champions if the season was curtailed by the coronavirus, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
The bottom three clubs would also not necessarily avoid relegation, with no specific regulation in place governing such a scenario.
The rapid spread of the virus has raised the prospect of the Government ordering the cancellation of all sporting events in the UK for more than two months, something that could mean some fixtures never being played.
Were the Premier League season not completed, it is likely crisis talks would take place to determine whether previous results would be allowed to stand or whether the entire campaign was rendered null and void.
Any final ruling could depend on how many fixtures had been played, similar to the results of abandoned matches in some sporting competitions being allowed to stand if a certain percentage of them have been completed.
The 1939-40 Football League season was abandoned after three matches following the outbreak of the Second World War. At the time, Blackpool were a point clear at the top of the First Division.
Depriving Liverpool of their first Premier League title given they are 22 points clear at the top and need only four more wins to be crowned champions would be hugely controversial.
But it would be equally controversial to relegate the bottom three if they are not already doomed when a halt is called to the season given the hundreds of millions of pounds at stake.
The same would apply to European qualification places and also promotion spots in the Championship, which also has play-offs for the final Premier League place.
Rendering the entire season void would mean a decision would still have to be taken about which clubs qualified for Europe.
Whatever ruling the Premier League and other governing bodies made, it therefore would be impossible to rule out a legal challenge from any team adversely impacted as a result.