Tackling Banned in New Premier League Protocol For Training; Serie A Will ‘Resume When Safety Guaranteed’ and More (Football Round-up)
Reports state that the new rules mandate Premier League players be tested for Covid-19 twice a week and that they maintain minimal contact while training (Pic: Football360).
New guidelines are out for restart of football training in England. The players of Premier League will be forbidden from tackling while pitches, corner flags, cones and goalposts will have to be disinfected after every session whenever the clubs restart their training, reported the BBC.
The report stated that the players will be tested for coronavirus twice a week while their temperature will be checked on a daily basis and they will have to follow strict social distancing guidelines. They will be prohibited from assembling together in groups or travel together with teammates.
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Meanwhile, John Newsham, former safety officer for Blackburn Rovers and former chairman of the Football Safety Officers Association, stated that the Premier League season must not resume if it constitutes threat to lives irrespective of the financial losses entailed.
“Nobody’s life should be jeopardised because of money. If a match has to be abandoned or can’t be played due to safety concerns, it is irrelevant that it is due to be broadcast on Sky. It is a worry for me if the TV money is at the back of people’s minds. Lives come first, it has nothing to do with money,” he said.
‘Serie A Will resume When Safety Guaranteed’
Vincenzo Spadafora, Italian sports ministers, emphasised that Serie A will restart only when safety of all is guaranteed.
"If the championship resumes, as we all hope, it will be because we'll have taken the appropriate measures and protocols to resume in complete safety, for all," Spadafora told the Italian Senate.
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The players resumed their individual training on May 4 after a two-month lockdown and there are group sessions set under very strict protocols for May 18.
"Someone asked why a supermarket does not close if the cashier is positive while if a player is, the whole team is sent to quarantine," said Spadafora. "Because in football it is not possible to keep a distance with players having to run and mark each other, which does not happen in the supermarket.
"Football is by nature a sport where you cannot maintain distances. Players must run, score, find themselves in the penalty area," he added.
"I'm aware of the passion surrounding football and the importance of the sector, but I find the debate around football at a time like this excessive." he said.
Norwich Say Relegation Must be Decided on Pitch
The sports director of Norwich City, Stuart Webber, said Premier League clubs should be relegated only if both of the top two divisions resume and finish the season.
"In my opinion, it needs to be settled on the pitch, not off the pitch," he told Sky Sports.
"A big question we have around restarting is, it's fine if we restart and three teams get relegated. We look at it as though we're only six points off 16th rather than being adrift. But if we do (go down), that's fine, because that's where football should be played. Football should be played on a pitch and not in the boardroom
"But the Championship has to restart and play all their games also. What we could not accept is a situation where we play out all our games, get relegated but then the Championship can’t play -- because we don't even know if the government are going to let them play -- and then they automatically promote some teams who haven't finished the season.
"It's a bit like saying, we can''t complete the FA Cup, but we''re in the quarter-finals, we've beaten a Championship top-six team away, we've beaten two Premier League teams away, so does that mean we win the FA Cup then and qualify for Europe and we all get a medal, because the level of games we played were harder than the other teams left in the quarter-finals?
"That''s a really important sporting point -- it needs to be settled on the pitch, both coming up or going down."
Six in Serbian Club Get Infected
Fikret Medjedovic, the general secretary of Serbia’s second division club, FK Novi Pazar, said six players have tested positive for coronavirus and have been quarantined.
First and second division of the Serbian League are due to restart on May 30 in short duration matches with four more games to be played in each tier.
“We were aware of the situation as three players had tested positive before another three got infected and it’s making training for the league’s resumption difficult,” Medjedovic told Serbian media.
“They are feeling well and we hope to have them back soon, but they’ve been isolated from the rest of the team for the time being and are receiving medical attention.”
German Minister on Football Restart
German Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer, said he wants the two top football leagues to resume games after the lockdown is lifted while the team members follow the same protocols as the rest of the population.
Bundesliga becomes the first top league to resume games after the coronavirus lockdown and is on the verge of finishing this season. Although Seehofer said he is in support for the resumption of the third league but not right away.
The first set of Bundesliga matches will be seen on Saturday, May 16, while the Premier League is targeting resumption by June 1.
Bundesliga will play the matches in a normal fashion with coronavirus restrictions while EPL is considering a few neutral sites owing the prevailing uncertainties about scheduling and venues.
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