Richard Bevin, chief executive of the League Managers' Association, has said that all players must be tested for coronavirus before the Premier League can return from its current hiatus.
The Premier League has been suspended since early March as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the UK, with the league announcing last week that the suspension would continue indefinitely.
With no end to the hiatus in sight, Bevin has begun to sketch an outline of how play could resume – though he was keen to stress that those who need tests the most must be given priority over players and coaches.
"Our managers do not want to be back on the pitch unless the players have been tested," Bevin told the BBC. "But at the same time the government must confirm that is OK, because the tests must be made available first - if there's a shortage - to care workers, patients, NHS staff and their families."
The UK has lagged behind in testing for the virus, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock setting a goal of 100,000 tests per day by the end of April. Currently, there are only around 10,000 tests being performed daily.
The lack of tests has been a major difference between the UK and Germany, which has conducted far more tests and prompted discussions of the Bundesliga returning by early May.
"In Germany, if you look at discussions about coming back in May, that's probably a direct result of some very clear thinking from their government because they're doing 50,000 tests a day," Bevin said.
"In this country we're doing 10,000 per day, although the government are targeting 100,000 each day by the end of the month."
There has been much discussion about whether Premier League sides should be taking advantage of the government's furlough scheme, which covers 80 per cent of an individual's wages. Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Norwich have all said they will utilise the program for their non-playing staff.
Bevan has suggested that Premier League sides should not be using public funds at this time, and the scheme should be mostly used by lower division teams.
"Maybe the learning for the government is that when the furlough period comes to an end and they need to reset it for June, I would welcome them saying furloughing is only really focused on the people that really need it," Bevin said.
"Maybe we should be seeing the clubs in League One and League Two that need the furloughing. I'd like to see the government setting better guidelines so that the wrong businesses don't take away the money from where we need it to be."