West Ham captain Mark Noble representing West Ham players this morning will be told at a Premier League Project Restart briefing on Wednesday to turn their faces away after they have been tackled, according to reports.
Top-flight captains will hold a video conference call with league bosses, the PFA and Government officials at 10 am on Wednesday as part of crucial Project Restart talks centred on player welfare.
And according to The Telegraph, the reported measure regarding tackling from the Premier League will come as part of significant ‘cultural changes’ that have to be accepted if football is to be played again before the end of the year.
Research carried out by experts at Aarhus University and the University of Southern Denmark showed that top-level football players are within an infectious distance of each other for an average of only 88 seconds during a match.
Football players through their captains will be able to voice their concerns over safety at this morning’s meeting.
Can that be right? Only 88 seconds? Marking and being marked at corners and free kicks. Marking and tackling in open play. Just running past players to create or get back into position. Being treated by physios when hurt (that’s a clever trick whilst keeping 2M apart).
Also, I don’t think players will stop spitting and nose snorting completely. It’s ingrained in their habits and will be very hard to prevent in the heat of the game.
Seems like a very short time to me but even if true, would you stand beside someone in a supermarket, train/bus etc with no PPE for 1 1/2 minutes? This is why pubs and clubs are shut down.
The VAR replay shows defender not turning his head as he tackles striker.
Penalty, red card????
What kind of game will be returning? Relegations & promotions to be decided by 80/90 minutes of God knows what??
The farce continues!
Seems ridiculous to turn away after being tackled. How do you try to win the ball back again.
It’s the sort of nonsense comment that the media love to pick up, of course it won’t be a rule when/if things really do start up.
Watch the bundesliga on Saturday, I’m guessing it will be a normal football match but without fans. The same way millions of us play football every Sunday morning!
Omg you absolute clowns..this is getting ridiculous
Just ban tackling, imagine how good Anderson will be then 😉
To be fair, we’ve been social distancing on corners all season!!