Premier League Coronavirus Restart: Why Players Should Be Scared

As the English Premier League pushes for a June restart, this journalist spoke to a world-leading scientist to understand the risks.

June is too soon 

The English people need a boost. That’s what the politicians have said. They hope Premier League soccer will do the trick and “lift the spirits of the nation.” 

Plans to get the action back underway in June were boosted by the British government this week. A guidance for elite athletes has been released and positive noises were made at its regular coronavirus briefing on Wednesday.

However, University of Reading associate professor in cellular microbiology, Dr Simon Clarke believes this is too early. 

“Given in a month we won’t even be allowed to get our hair cut or we probably won’t even be able to mix with friends. I think it might be too soon.” He says. 

“I don’t like saying that. I think that’s a very sad state of affairs. But I’m being realistic.”

Players should be worried

High profile England stars Raheem Sterling and Danny Rose have expressed concerns about whether the game can return safely. 

Guess what? They are right. According to Dr Clarke the Premier League’s so-called ‘Project Restart’ does put them at risk.

“[The clubs are] not really putting the general public at risk,” he says. 

“They’re putting, their players, their main asset, at risk and the staff who are around them.”

Soccer-spreaders

A lot of high-profile Premier League figures are known to have contracted the virus. From Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to Chelsea attacker Calum Hudson-Odoi. 

Former-Chelsea medic Dr Eva Carneiro has suggested soccer players may be more susceptible to catching COVID-19.  

But what is the risk of getting coronavirus from the game itself? 

“People are breathing heavily, they spit on the field, things like that. [But] it’s not as dense as going on the [London underground] for example” the university expert explains.

“[Soccer] players will, for example, spend time up against one another. You are on the pitch for 90 minutes and in frequent contact with a handful of people” 

“I mean, you’re not going to stop people being marked, are you? That sort of defeats the whole purpose of the game.” 

You have to wonder: what will happen if a player starts coughing on the pitch? How will others react? Could one of them feign a cough to gain a psychological advantage over their opponent? 

This journalist has spoken to numerous workers in other sectors who’ve continued to work through the crisis. They tell me that physical altercations occur with regularity when someone starts displaying symptoms.

“What’s really important is that players understand the risks they take. And I think you’ll find that many of them will accept that risk, [although] some of them might whinge”, adds Dr Clarke.

‘Sterile bubble’ is impossible

One of the suggestions has been that players can be isolated in a ‘sterile bubble.’

This, the professor says, is not realistic.

“Everyone [the players] come into contact with is a potential source of infection. You have to run all this right back and really put people in a bubble, which if you think about it, is almost impossible. 

 “The point, I constantly try and get across, is that none of these institutions, be they [a soccer] club or care home, none of [are] sealed off”, says Dr Clarke. 

The professor points out that, to successfully create a sterile bubble, every person in the environment needs to be quarantined, which is incredibly difficult. 

For example, at a training centre all employees will need to be quarantined, the physios, the management team, anyone that visits the facility, however fleetingly, will have to be isolated in the same manner. 

Safety measures have some merit 

Scientific knowledge on the way coronavirus spreads, at this stage, is based on theory rather than fact. In Britain there has been huge scrutiny regarding the effectiveness of face masks and whether the government should insist on them.

Other leagues which have restarted, or plan to, have a core set of safety measures in common. These include: avoiding shaking hands and not using dressing rooms, using individual water bottles and making those who aren’t playing wear masks.  

“I suspect strongly suspect that there are multiple ways this thing gets transmitted”, says the microbiology expert. 

“The obvious one is sharing water bottles. Shaking hands is [also] thought to be an issue. Wearing masks doesn’t stop you contracting things for other people, but there is an argument around whether it prevents you from transmitting it to somebody else.”

Dr Clarke highlights that, as with the ‘sterile bubble’, complete protection is unrealistic.

“You cannot completely eradicate risk, there will always be a risk with this. So every little measure they take hopefully has some sort of positive effect in reducing that risk, but you can’t eliminate it.

Positive tests

The persistent fear amongst fans and teams is that one positive test from a player will derail the whole competition. This is because the government is advising anyone who gets the virus to self-isolate. The concern has merit, according to Dr Clarke. 

He tells me there is a huge amount of uncertainty over the time it takes between infection and someone testing positive, let alone the stage they develop symptoms. A problem made worse by it varying from person to person.

“There is a window where you can get a false negative, where you’ve been infected, but the test won’t pick it up,” he says. 

“That’s why if one person in a group has had it, you have to behave as though potentially the whole lot have. If you’re going to quarantine a football team, that really does question of your ability to [go-ahead and restart the league].” 

Again it raises the question, if it is in a clubs interest to hide a positive test, or indeed publicise it, will they do so? It’s a multi-billion-pound game with high stakes.

This week Brighton & Hove Albion revealed it had a third player test positive for the virus. Its chief executive didn’t refute the suggestions regarding self-interest.

“At this stage of the season there is self-interest at every level of the table,” CEO Paul Barber was quoted as saying.

Unintended consequences 

Restarting the Premier League might ‘lift the spirits’, but has anyone considered the impact an explosion of televised sport will have on a soccer-mad nation starved of live entertainment?

The British government has struggled to enforce social distancing measures, particularly amongst the younger male demographic. Throwing Premier League soccer into the mix will undoubtedly have an effect. 

“It’s down to the public to be responsible” adds Dr Clarke. “But you’ll get what I call ‘World Cup’ syndrome.’

“Because people have been shut up in their houses, particularly the younger lads, [they] will see soccer on the television [and] will go to the park with their mates and start playing.” 

“If that doesn’t fall within the guidelines that are currently in place, that could cause problems.”

Sections of the British media have crucified players in this crisis over pay-cuts and honed in on those found breaking distancing rules. You can only imagine what will happen if the parks suddenly fill up with people playing soccer.

Speak Your Mind

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Get in Touch

350FansLike
100FollowersFollow
281FollowersFollow
150FollowersFollow

Recommend for You

Oh hi there 👋
It’s nice to meet you.

Subscribe and receive our weekly newsletter packed with awesome articles that really matters to you!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

You might also like

Xpeng Launches First Production Vehicle With Nvidia Xavier

Xpeng P7 electric sedan Xpeng Chinese...

Casper Van Dien Talks ‘The 2nd’ And A...

Casper Van Dien poses for a portrait. ...

Project N95 Launches To Battle 2020 Shortage Of N95...

In response to the overwhelming shortage of N95 respirators and surgical masks, the National...

Council Post: Community Mayors: What They Are And How...

Clare Moore is the Head of Franchising at Tide Cleaners. ...