Thursday 23 December 2021
League ignores all warning signs
In the Premier League, money comes before health
From Michael Bauer
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The big clubs in the Premier League are running out of stars. The Omikron variant ensures increasing numbers of cases in the clubs and game failures. The league actually needs a break – but for several reasons it has to continue as before.
Winter break in the Bundesliga, the Christmas holidays are just around the corner. Football fans all over the world turn their gaze to England during this time, where traditionally on Boxing Day, that is, Boxing Day, the ball is still rolling. And he will do that again this year, despite the Omikron variant, despite the increasing number of infections within the clubs and despite warnings from coaches to whom the virus is thinning the squad through illness or quarantine. With the games Liverpool against Leeds and Wolverhaupton against Watford, however, two games were canceled three days earlier due to the pandemic.
In England, the number of infections due to Omikron has long since gone through the roof again. The UK recorded more than 106,000 cases on Wednesday, the highest since the pandemic began. The process is similar in the Premier League. Since the beginning of December, the number of positive cases among players and employees of the 20 clubs has doubled on a weekly basis. There were 90 infections in the last week. The league also lists a record-breaking number of tests carried out in the last week, but “more tests equals more cases” is a Donald Trump-style calculation that does not work out.
The vaccination rate in the league also leaves a lot to be desired. Around 16 percent of the footballers in England’s top division have not yet been vaccinated twice, another 7 percent are, according to the league, still on their “vaccination journey” – that is, their vaccination prices between the date, the first and second spades. However, the “Daily Mail” also reported on two Premier League teams where the vaccination rate was only between 50 and 60 percent.
That of course makes professional football in England the target of the new Corona variant, which does not even stop at people who have been vaccinated twice. Twelve games in the best league in the world have already fallen victim to Omikron and have been postponed. Despite the two cancellations, the league is sticking to the holiday marathon with three game days in little more than a week. Partly because most clubs want to keep playing. At the virtual meeting on Monday, 15 clubs spoke out in favor of continuing league operations. Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC are said to have been one of the few clubs at the meetingcalling for a break for the league to curb omicron spread within the league.
League remains tough: from 14 professionals, the clubs have to play
Because the Reds and other top clubs like Chelsea are slowly running out of top stars. Before the game against Tottenham, the Reds reported four professionals who tested positive with Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Thiago and Curtis Jones. Jürgen Klopp’s assistant coach Pep Lijnders described the decision to allow the games to take place over Christmas as “absurd” as it would jeopardize the kicker’s health. “To me, the experts are not the coaches, but the scientists and the doctors and we should stick to their guidelines. The Premier League should ask them, not the CEOs, not the managers, because health always comes first,” said Lijnders the “Guardian“.
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel was also concerned about the increasing number of infections among the blues. By traveling together to games and training, further cases are not ruled out, he told Sky Sports. Tuchel’s club had already asked for a move before the last league game against Wolverhampton after several infections that had become known at short notice, the league declined. The reason for this was the requirement of the league that the teams must compete if 14 professionals are able to play. The Premier League continues to adhere to the target.
The players themselves feel abandoned and without a real voice. Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson criticized the lack of support for the professionals in an interview with the BBC. You don’t have an advocate with enough power to say: This is currently not good for the health of the players. “Of course we always want to play footballers,” said Henderson. “But I’m concerned about the well-being of the players and I don’t think anyone is taking this seriously enough.”
For the league and many clubs, continuing to play is a matter of prestige and money. “Both the government and the Premier League are determined to do business as usual,” said journalist and England expert Raphael Honigstein on Deutschlandfunk. The game days around the holidays are extremely important for the Premier League. “It’s the big figurehead for the league and incredibly lucrative because more games are played live than usual.” The clubs have no desire to face recourse claims from TV rights holders, as in previous seasons.
The losses would be considerable. After the first lockdown, the Premier League had to repay around 260 million euros to rights holders BT Sport and Sky Sports. And the broadcasters do not want to have holes in their program schedule due to the game cancellations – especially when most of the country is stuck at home.
Premier League gets scheduling problems
In addition to the financial aspects, the top English league also has a problem with the schedule. The cancellation of game days 19th to 21st around Christmas and New Year would mean the loss of 30 games that could not be made up at all. There are only two midweek events in the season’s schedule that are not occupied by national or international competitions.
Replacement dates would therefore depend on how far the Premier League clubs come in Champions, Europe and the Conference League. With Manchester United, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, West Ham and Leicester City, six clubs are still represented in the knockout rounds – more than a quarter of the entire Premier League. And the league has to end on May 22nd. Because the new season will be compressed by the winter World Cup in Qatar in the summer – so no time to take a deep breath.
If you turn on the television on Boxing Day, you will be able to see top football from England. Too many factors speak against a cancellation of the traditional game days. The league will probably only pay the bill in the new year, when the cases continue to pile up after the many games, the stresses of travel for the teams and the number of infections in general. The fan then has to pay the bill: They will then probably see empty stands, but certainly much less star power on the pitch due to the corona.
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