Premier League to continue despite rising COVID cases

The Premier League has decided to attempt to fulfil fixtures over the coming festive week, despite a huge surge in COVID-19 cases that saw just one Premier League game played on Saturday last week.

All 20 teams in the league met today to make a decision on whether it was better to have a ‘circuit breaker’ and postpone the Boxing Day games, or attempt to continue with the fixture list already congested in January.

It was expected that either the Boxing Day games or games from the 28 December would be postponed, instead teams chose to attempt to fulfil the fixtures.

Week commencing 20 December, the Premier League returned 90 positive COVID-19 tests, a record since the pandemic began.

Instead of postponements, the league has advised that if a club has 13 fit players and a goalkeeper, they should be able to play the next match.

A lot has been said about why cases have been so rife within football, with most putting it down the Omicron variant, but others asking if there’s a possibility it is to do with if players are vaccinated or not. According to the BBC, 77% of players have had two vaccinations, with 84% having had a least one, that figure rises to 92% if all playing staff are included.

It is rumoured that one of the issues discussed in today’s meeting was vaccination, and if the league should implement something to encourage players to get vaccinated, and punish them if they cause a COVID related postponement and are not vaccinated.

Though nothing has yet been announced, it’s possible something could be in place by the new year.

For football fans the real hope is that we do not lose football once again, that we aren’t taken from the stands by a horrible virus, and that we can get through the festive period with our favourite sport going nowhere.