WE MUST STOP PLAYING NOW
Doing nothing defies logic and puts health at risk says Rodg ers
BRENDAN RODGERS says “there is absolutely no doubt” the Premier League should be stopped because of coronavirus.
It comes after Leicester were one of five clubs caught up in health scares even though fixtures are expected to be played as normal this weekend.
Leicester boss Rodgers revealed that three of his players had been put into self-isolation after showing symptoms and said their game away to Watford tomorrow could be postponed.
Chelsea players did not go to their Cobham training ground as the club undertook a deep clean as a precaution but insisted no players had shown any symptoms.
Arsenal will return to training today after coming into contact with Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis, right, who has the virus. Wolves wanted last night’s trip to Olympiakos to be postponed but were told to play. Watford were due to train at a local health club but, because of fears about the virus, were ordered to stay away.
It has left Rodgers insisting that health must come first, despite the Government saying there is no need to postpone or play games behind closed doors. When asked if the league should be stopped, Rodgers said: “There is absolutely no doubt, from a logical perspective. There’s the public health and ethical side as well. “Players could be going into games unclear if opposition players are infected.” The Premier League, FA and EFL held talks last night to discuss the crisis. The EFL said games will go ahead as planned even though privately they would want the league to be postponed rather than have games played behind closed doors because of the financial impact on clubs.
But they are only being guided by Government advice and that may change after Tuesday’s UEFA video summit, with all 55 member associations invited.
There is confusion as to whether Olympiakos and Austrian club LASK will even be allowed to travel to England for the second leg of their Europa League ties next week.
Manchester City’s Champions League tie with Real Madrid is off after the Spanish club ordered their players and staff into isolation after a player at their basketball club tested positive.
The Government held a Cobra crisis meeting yesterday at which it was decided that football should carry on as normal this weekend but one club executive said it was “highly likely” that games would be played behind closed doors. The virus is not expected to reach its peak in England for weeks yet and they do not want to overreact with worse times to come.
But the English attitude is causing disbelief in Europe, with fans, clubs and players shocked at how little is being done.
Former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas tweeted about the decision not to shut schools and wrote: “Why not do it now and avoid more trouble?”
Another top European executive attacked England’s “shocking” attitude. Leagues in Holland, Portugal and Spain, together with Major League Soccer, have all followed
Italy by suspending their leagues.
Chelsea’s trip to
Bayern Munich next week is expected to go ahead without fans.
But England is still refusing to take similar action despite the worst health crisis for a generation.