The Premier League football season is facing the prospect of being brought to a halt after the Superintendent for Public Health said that non-contact sports are currently more likely to be given green light to continue, as they pose the least risk of spreading the coronavirus.

Football is classified as a contact sport, as players tackle each other to claim possession of the ball, with physical contact also inevitable during set-pieces such as corners and free-kicks.

The Malta Football Association Executive Committee is expected to meet later on Monday to decide whether the 2019-20 BOV Premier League and the FA Trophy will be completed this summer.

However, when asked by Times of Malta whether health authorities are making a distinction between contact and non-contact sports in terms of easing virus containment restrictions, superintendent Charmaine Gauci said that it was clear that at the moment non-contact sports posed the least danger.

“In sports, we carried out a risk assessment to see which sport carries the most threat for COVID-19,” Gauci said.

She went on to note that non-contact sports "pose the least threat" and hinted that in the current scenario, removing restrictions to allow football competitions to resume next month was unlikely.

Last weekend, the German Bundesliga became the first major league championship to return to action when the first programme of matches was held.

The English Premier League and the Italian Serie A are also holding talks in a bid to restart their season next season.

The Malta Football Association must inform European football governing body UEFA about their final decision concerning the domestic season by Monday, May 25.