The Premier League has been extremely insistent on restarting play during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some remain convinced it is a bad idea.
The Premier League wants to resume the 2019-20 season at some point this summer, that much has been clear for weeks. While France and the Netherlands have shut down football for good for the summer, the Premier League and the English government are determined to have teams playing behind closed doors within the next few months.
While it’s exciting for us fans that we might get to see some football being played this summer, you do have to question whether these decisions are being made in the best interest of public health, or the best interest of the Premier League and its clubs instead.
Gary Neville, who is a massive personality within the sport these days, has questioned the Premier League’s ‘project restart’, claiming it is a massive risk that is only being put in place due to economic reasons.
"“People are now assessing risk. How many people have to die playing football in the Premier League before it becomes unpalatable? One? One player? One member of staff goes into intensive care? What risk do we have to take? The discussion is purely economic.” – Gary Neville to Sky Sports"
Premier League players will have to cover their faces as part of new rules to allow a safe return to full training.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 30, 2020
To many people’s surprise, the mayor of Liverpool has also questioned ‘project restart’, despite the fact that Liverpool are on the verge of their first Premier League title in 30 years. Of course, as a politician, his interests must be on the health of the general public, but Liverpool FC are reportedly not happy with his comments regardless.
"“I think the best thing to do is to actually end the season…It isn’t just about Liverpool – they’ve clearly won the league – they deserve it, they should be crowned league champions. The bottom line is, though, this is about health and safety and people’s lives and I think football should have to come second in regards to making a choice here.” – Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson"
It does seem like the Premier League’s plan to restart is avoiding some of the guidelines set in place for social distancing and such. Even without fans in the stadium, sport should be one of the lowest priorities for governments right now, as it doesn’t help alleviate the COVID-19 situation whatsoever. Instead, it adds even more stress and even more potential for disaster.
Despite that, the Premier League seems insistent on playing this summer. You can read more about that here.