It would appear that the new fast-transmitting variant of Covid-19 is causing havoc all over the UK with infections spreading at an alarming rate, and is now causing Premier League games to be postponed on a regular basis.
Arsenal themselves had Gabriel, Luiz and Willian sidelined by Covid-19 protocols for our last two games, and we have seen two games postponed this week in Man City v Everton and Tottenham v Fulham.
There are likely to be many more as the virus continues to infiltrate the population as a whole, and there have been calls for the Premier League to “pause” the season for a couple of weeks to try and get things back under control.
But it seems that, while most of the country are in serious lockdown mode, we will still be able to watch any games that can go ahead as there are no official plans to stop fixtures going ahead as normal.
The EPL have released a statement which said: “The Premier League has not discussed pausing the season and has no plans to do so.
“The League continues to have confidence in its COVID-19 protocols to enable fixtures to be played as scheduled, and these protocols continue to have the full backing of Government.
“With the health of players and staff the priority, the League is also fully supportive of how clubs are implementing the protocols and rules.”
This is good news for stay-at-home footy fans,but I am wondering just how many players must be ruled out due to Covid-19 for a game to get postponed? Sheffield United revealed that that two unnamed players and a number of backroom staff members had fallen ill with coronavirus ahead of their not-postponed defeat to Burnley in midweek, but how many Fulham players had contracted it ahead of the postponed Spurs game?
I hope that the Premier League will now issue some guidelines so clubs know how bad things need to be to get a game postponed?
I had no plan of working from home in the year 2020.
Agree with the EPL statement, the league should continue but with safety guideline protocols. The world will be boring without the leagues, especially the bet shops.
What a stupid statement from the EPL. If they have not even discussed the possibility of pausing the season they are either being disingenuous or have their heads buried in the sand.
By all means do everything possible to keep the games going but for crissakes have a Plan B, C and D. Muppets.
They might not have any choice if cases continue to climb.
Delay the season and let it clash with the Euros. No spectators would be allowed where infections are still high, meaning that national teams can field lesser sides in the tournament if they have to.
I feel obliged to point out the obvious; that the ultimate decision as to whether to continue or stop will NOT be taken by the football authorities but, quite correctly too, by HM Goverment!
As ever, in all walks of life, the ultimate decision rests with those who hold the actual power to decide, which is NOT the football authorities.
Dont stop the league. You have enough money and ability to test each and every player before any match.