MLS gives green light to individual player workouts at team facilities

Major League Soccer announced Friday that as of Wednesday, May 6, players may start training on outdoor team facility fields for voluntary individual workouts, in compliance with health and safety protocols created in consultation with medical and infectious disease experts.

All clubs must submit to the league its specific plan outlining how the team will implement health and safety protocols before initiating workouts.

Plans must include restricting access to essential staff only, personal protective equipment (PPE) use from the parking lot to the field, PPE use and 10 feet of social distancing by staff during training, sanitization and disinfection plans for all training equipment and spaces, standard screenings and temperature checks upon arrival and staggered player/staff arrivals and departures.

Clubs will have the use of the outdoor fields at their training facility, divided into a maximum of four quadrants per field. A maximum of one player per quadrant may participate per training session with no equipment sharing or playing like passing or shooting between players. 

All workouts are voluntary and may not be in conflict with local policies. 

The MLS said its league-wide moratorium on small group and full team training remains in place to at least Friday, May 15.