According to a report in the Daily Mirror, football players are ready to revolt over plans to stage games behind-closed-doors.
They are said to have voiced major concerns to the Professional Footballers’ Association after both the Premier League and EFL raised it as a strong possibility last week.
The Premier League have even mapped out a plan to return behind closed doors as early as May 2/3 to get football underway again as they are under pressure from TV companies to fulfil their fixtures or risk losing hundreds of millions in multi-billion pound TV contracts.
Players are adamant they do not want to play behind closed doors because:
- They fear for their own safety amid strict Government warnings over social distancing
- It could put their own families in jeopardy if they then become infected
- Extra strain would be placed on emergency services with ambulances, paramedics and security would be needed at a time when they are already being stretched to the limit
- They do not want to play in empty stadiums with loyal fans being locked out
The concerns are being passed on by the PFA to football’s authorities with players adamant they are against the whole notion in principle.
Claret and Hugh say
It is hard to disagree with any of the players concerns as listed above, it should be heath and safety first and football and money second.
No-one will praise the football authorities including the powerful Premier League for putting money over safety and the fans. Football should only resume when it is safe to do so for the players and their families and not to suit TV companies and schedules, preferably it should be played in front of supporters however long it takes.
Ultimately we could even see strike action by the players if no common sense approach is taken by the powers that be.
Football players are expensive assets that are part of a company. They should have strict controls placed on them to keep them away from the public, all of them in all team, as well as all those in the immediate support structure (like coaches, physio’s). If there is a risk that family members they live with might pass on the illness then make the players move into a location that is under strict controls (just as if they were in the England camp at a world cup). This is what happens with Astronauts to keep them from contaminating the Space stations and anyway there are many professions where employees are expected to work away from home for months at a time particularly when getting paid well for it, and these are young men getting paid huge amounts of money to do an amazing job, a bit of sacrifice here is a way they could earn this and play football in a virus free environment.
A plan could be put in place for the other jobs that are less critical elements of the overall support structure, like the kitman for example. Either give all of these people decontamination suits like they were working in a nuclear plant so that they couldn’t possibly pass any illness on (although this type of resource is better used in the NHS!), or come up with a plan that protects the players best, like putting the kits out 2 days in advance or getting the players to wash their own kit! With some thought all other support jobs could be adapted as necessary.
This is surely possible if planned properly and all involved are disciplined, and it’s definitely worth thinking through thoroughly – it’s not as though anyone involved in these clubs has that much to do at the moment other than their Finance departments who are trying to keep the clubs afloat.
If done properly this could create jobs for the workforce impacting by this virus, but in the least will keep the masses entertained and distracted.
Anyway…. worth thinking about! The world has changed.
See if the players change their minds when they only receive furloughed payments with a max of £2500 a month. I don’t disagree with there decision but let’s see