Football faces questions with no right answer on horizon

The decision about if or when English football should emerge from the coronavirus is about more than just health. It is also about economics and politics.
Billy Sharp of Sheffield Utd and Oli McBurnie of Sheffield Utd. Picture: Simon Bellis/SportimageBilly Sharp of Sheffield Utd and Oli McBurnie of Sheffield Utd. Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage
Billy Sharp of Sheffield Utd and Oli McBurnie of Sheffield Utd. Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage

Health, though, has to be the priority.

There had been hopes a few days ago this might be the week when Downing Street began easing lockdown restrictions, but the gift Prime Minister Boris Johnson was bearing at yesterday’s briefing was no more than a promise he will lay out a “roadmap” as to how it might happen. Even the offer of hard and fast dates were not forthcoming.

Life is stuck in a “wait and see” phase and football is no more able to push past it than anyone else.

Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips.Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips.
Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips.
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Thanks to low infection rates, and testing and tracing regimes far better than this country’s, the Bundesliga’s players are back in training, and were hoping yesterday for the green light to start playing on May 9. Instead, Chancellor Angela Merkel has had to apply the brakes for at least a week.

If even Germany cannot get going yet, there is little prospect of us doing so.

Yet there is increasing and unhealthy pressure on football to kick-off again.

The mood music (indirectly) coming from the decision-makers seemed to be suggesting the Government was keen to see live football on the television again soon for the good of morale. They were sentiments echoed by the former Labour Sports Minister Richard Caborn to The Yorkshire Post this week.

Steven Fletcher scores for Sheffield Wednesday.Steven Fletcher scores for Sheffield Wednesday.
Steven Fletcher scores for Sheffield Wednesday.
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Premier League clubs want to play again because abandoning the season risks having to foot some or all of a £762m bill for not playing the matches they promised broadcasters. With these companies from all over the world, and with their own situations also at the whim of a virus no one had heard of a few months ago, it is impossible to get a handle on what will be demanded, but the effects could be crippling – not just for world football’s most lucrative domestic league, but the divisions below who rely on trickle-down.

The clubs and their employees are very careful not to say anything nowadays without stressing their support for the NHS, and the importance of everyone staying safe. They have to ensure their actions do not betray desperation.

Sheffield United were one of five Premier League clubs who returned to training grounds this week. Players are still training alone, in individual timeslots and often one to a pitch, under strict instructions to stick to social distancing guidelines. But when the rest of us are told not to go to work unless we have to, it can sit uncomfortably, even on those terms.

For playing again to have any justification before a vaccine is found – and who knows when that will be? – everyone allowed into a “behind-closed-doors” match will have to be tested, probably twice a week. Perceived wisdom has it that Premier League games cannot go ahead with fewer than 300 people.

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Economically, the estimated £4m cost can easily be justified if it avoids hundreds of millions of pounds worth of demands from television companies, but the same numbers do not apply in lower divisions, not even the Championship.

Even if it pays for itself, it would look incredibly bad for reserve goalkeepers to be tested twice a week while nurses drive to test centres to be turned away because of a lack of capacity.

For all the good charitable work so many footballers have done during this pandemic, the bad moments – broken lockdowns, obstinance over pay negotiations – have gained traction in the public consciousness. Crassly flaunting their wealth to test players when key workers are unable to do the same would be a PR disaster.

The logistics of organising safe matches would be incredibly difficult, the potential pitfalls very high.

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One broken leg, diverting emergency services to a kickabout, would be uncomfortable.

One player catching Covid-19 would not sit well either, even if he was quarantined to stop its spread.

If half his team-mates caught it before we knew, serious questions would be asked.

Just a camera lens full of idiots gathering outside Elland Road to celebrate Leeds United finally returning to the Premier League after 16 years away, or Liverpool winning a first title in 30 years or Sheffield United qualifying for a maiden European campaign would drag the whole game down with it.

Not that calling a halt will be straight-forward either.

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The National League is expected to decide today if it should allow promotion and relegation.

The futures of Harrogate Town, York City and Bradford Park Avenue are amongst those on the line.

Whatever they decide will be an economic boost for solicitors. It is hard to see how any decisions – null and void, points-per-game, standings when the music stopped or after each team played the others once – will not lead to legal challenges. They will be nothing compared to the telephone numbers if the Premier League has that dilemma.

Thinking about money feels so wrong but with livelihoods on the line, it cannot be dismissed.

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Football faces questions with no right answer. We can only wish it good luck.

Editor’s note: First and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

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Sincerely. Thank you. James Mitchinson, Editor

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